When the opportunity to prove his worth came knocking, James Laput made sure to welcome the challenge and deliver.

James Laput has been a revelation for Magnolia so far in PBA on Tour (PBA Images)

######

The 6-foot-10 big man has been strutting his wares so far in the PBA on Tour and was one of the reasons of Magnolia's fiery 3-0 start in the preseason exhibition games. He has now been cited for two Best Player of the Game citations out of the team’s three games.

For Laput, though, he, along with his fellow backup players, were just simply taking advantage of the minutes they were given to them especially with their key players nursing their injuries.

“With our team, with our mentality and culture, whenever things like this happen where people are injured, coach Chito (Victolero) and all the coaches are all saying next man up,” said Laput.

“Guys like me, Jed (Mendoza) and Jack (Corpuz), we don’t really see much of these minutes in the regular season but I think we are just making the most of the opportunity and doing our best for the team,” he added.

Laput also noted that he’s just trying to repay the trust of Victolero who seemed to have given him a much bigger role this time around.

“Syempre si coach Chito is a really great player’s coach and I think he sees me putting in the effort day in and day out and especially before this all happened sa PBA on Tour, I was putting in a lot of work,” said the Hotshots slotman

“I was in the weight room everyday and thank you to coach Chito, he gave me the touches and I delivered,” he added.

While much has been said about Laput’s performance so far in the preseason as he tries to hold the fort while Ian Sangalang and Calvin Abueva are still recovering from injuries, the Fil-Aussie big man believed that his game still has a lot of ceiling to improve on.

“I think ang dami (things to improve) kasi it’s a beautiful game, of course, I need to work on many aspects such as my jump shooting, maybe a one hand floater like Marc Pingris but free throws talaga kasi I’m always at the line,” shared Laput

“My whole game to be honest needs to elevate, actually a lot more. I haven’t proven anything so I’m coming out here and doing everything I need to do,” he added.