Ato Ular proving he's a diamond in the rough during draft night
Fresh from a player of the week citation, Blackwater rookie Ato Ular continued to prove his worth for the Bossing, this time dropping a career-high 34 points on 15-of-21 clip from the field to help his team slip past Phoenix, 91-89, in the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup on Friday.

The 6-foot-4 forward out of Letran drew praises from Blackwater head coach Ariel Vanguardia who also revealed that their 13th pick was actually a toss-up between Ular and Phoenix forward Chris Lalata.
“He earned it, honestly it was a choice between Lalata and Ular dun sa 13th pick. But coach Tino is from Letran (Letran High School). Sabi ko dito tayo. Tsaka sa champion. Doon. ‘Yun ‘yung choice kasi maganda pareho yung laro nila sa draft combine palitan sila ng mukha eh so ang ganda,” shared Vanguardia.
The Bossing then decided to tap the services of Ular.
Ular has been on a tear so far in the season, having scored in double-figures in all of his first six games in the PBA. He did a little bit of everything to keep Blackwater afloat in the game against Phoenix, even giving the Bossing a pair of leads in the final five minutes – first on a layup off his own miss for an 83-81 lead before drilling a booming triple that gave the Blackwater an 86-85 lead with 1:57 left in the game.
He also gave the screen that freed up Baser Amer who drilled the game-winning jumper with 2.1 seconds left.
“Basta ako naman tinatrabaho ko talaga ‘yung kumpiyansang binibigay ni coach, ito talaga yung nagbibigay sa akin ng kumpiyansa,” said Ular who was actually surprised by how much point he have scored during the game
“Sobra-sobra kasi pinapabayaan niya ako, sinasabihan niya ako lagi, tinuturuan niya ako ng mabuti kaya nagagawa ko yung ganun di ko nga inexpect na ganun talaga ‘yung points ko basta ginagawa ko lang yung best ko lagi court,” he added.