Chris Newsome downplayed his best performance since returning from the league’s health and safety protocols which came at a perfect time as Meralco claimed the last semifinals berth in the PBA Philippine Cup.
Newsome scored a game-high 23 points and added nine rebounds, six assists and two blocks in his fourth game back which was a big boost to the Bolts’ 97-86 win over the NLEX Road Warriors in their do-or-die quarters match Friday, Oct. 1.
But Newsome said the victory wasn’t done without the contributions from the rest of the team.
Cliff Hodge, who was also under the same protocols, had 16 points and nine rebounds while Caram produced 16 points and six assists to continue his splendid role filling up the void of the injured Aaron Black.
“Honestly, it's about this team. This team is what gives me my confidence,” Newsome said. “The guys have confidence in me, I have confidence in my guys. And if you see with our team, it's not necessarily about getting the Best Player of the Game, it's about winning the game. It could be any player in any given night. For me it's just my job to keep everybody mentally prepared, mentally there in the game, mentally present.
“And that's what the team did for me (against NLEX), they saw that I was feeling my shot, I was hitting my shots, so they encouraged me to keep shooting. They encouraged me to keep attacking and be aggressive, and so whenever it's like that, of course, when your team believes in you, there's nothing left to do but just to go out there and give your best,” he added.
Newsome didn’t suit up twice even after the Bolts were cleared from COVID-19 protocols, ending a streak of 209 games without missing one since entering the league in 2015.
He went scoreless in his return last Sept. 22 against NLEX but had 10 points, eight rebounds and six assists in a win over Barangay Ginebra San Miguel the following day. But Newsome was held to only seven points when the Road Warriors forced a do-or-die two days earlier.
With him appearing to be back in form and the Bolts playing good team basketball, Newsome could only hope that the combination of those two will translate in their favor against the Magnolia Pambansang Manok Hotshots in their best-of-seven series which starts in two days.
“It feels good to get my rhythm back. But again, like I said, the great thing about this team is it's not about one person,” Newsome said. “And you saw a different dynamic of this team without me. That was the first game I ever missed in my career, so it hurt to sit out. And that was the first time I wasn't in the locker room ever since I got drafted. So it was very hard to accept.
“But at the same time I have full confidence in my team because again, like I said, our team chemistry and how we talk to each other, how we build each other up, that's something that we've been working on ever since our training camp.
“And I think whenever you see teams that are like that, of course being in the semifinals, that's what's gonna be the difference in a lot of games — how well do you know your team? How well will your teamwork come into play? Because everybody's gonna be ready for me, everybody's gonna be ready for Paul Lee, but then it's the other guys that's gonna step up. This is a team game.”