The Star Hotshots finally securd their first victory of the PBA Governors' cup at the expense of GlobalPort Batang Pier.
Newly-acquired shooting guard RR Garcia led the charge for Hotshots with 26 points on 11-of-13 shooting together with four rebounds.
But Star's veteran gunner James Yap was nowhere to be found in this winning moment, finishing with zero points on 0-of-6 shooting and was reduced to a mere spectator at the endgame.
Are we seeing a transition to lesser playing time for the former two-time MVP?
Hotshots coach Jason Webb doesn't think so, citing that Garcia went hot and stayed with him on the floor.
"We are a team of depth," Webb said after Star's 105-102 overtime win against GlobalPort in a game that was stopped momentarily due to power failure in the playing venue. "There are going to be days that James is going to play a little, there are going to be days that PJ (Simon) or Allein (Maliksi) are going to play a little. We're going to go with the people that are hot."
"Yung team namin, kung titingnan mo, pare-pareho yung skill level. We can't say that these are our five best guys, hands down," he said. "We're going to go with the hot guy and today, it was RR (Garcia)."
Yap was happy regardless now that his team has finally barged into the win column.
"Sa wakas, nanalo din. Magandang start, magandang simula ito kaya sana madala namin sa next game," he said.
Nonetheless, Yap was elated that young guys like Garcia were able to step up in lieu of his scoring slump.
"Alam naman natin si RR, magaling din yan. So I'm happy for him na nag-deliver siya down the stretch so sana magtuloy-tuloy na yung panalo namin," he said.
Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer
Share It To Your Friends!
Loading...