Patience is a virtue for Calvin Oftana
At A Glance
- Calvin Oftana is aware of his tendencies to become overly eager on the offensive end and he's always trying to remind himself to be patient and carefully pick his spots to efficiently contribute to the team.
Calvin Oftana is aware of his tendencies to become overly eager on the offensive end and he’s always trying to remind himself to be patient and carefully pick his spots to efficiently contribute to the team.
And that’s because if he does, good things always happen – exactly what transpired during TNT’s 91-86 victory against Barangay Ginebra where he exploded for 32 points.
He shot 11-of-19 from the field including six triples – a stark improvement from his 14-point showing in their last game against NLEX where he shot 4-of-16 from the field including a 2-of-8 clip from the distance.
“I just need to breathe and take clear shots. Taking force shots yun yung naging call out ko sa sarili ko na kailangan kong maging patient. Tumama naman ngayon,” said Oftana whose explosion propelled TNT to its sixth straight victory which solidified its place atop the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup standings.
“Kumpyansa lang talaga ako sa sarili ko kasi ginagawa ko naman talaga sa ensayo,” said Oftana.
“Mataas yung kumpyansa ko syempre di ko rin naman kaya gawin iyon kung hindi sa mga teammates sa mga coaches and syempre tiwala sa Panginoon and mga bagay di natin kontrolado and just blessed na healthy and playing with a system,” he added.
The big scoring game for Oftana was actually a good response after getting an earful from Reyes last game due to his poor selection of shots.
“Sobrang bilib nga nyan sa sarili nyan,” Reyes jested.
Turning serious though, the veteran coach acknowledged his versatile forward’s ability to accept and respond to the criticisms of his game.
“I just want to add to that I think Calvin, as good a player as he is, he is very coachable and very open to feedback kasi diretso kami mag usap,” Reyes said of his star.
“Just like the last game he was missing shots he was not open so I was telling him, ‘hindi ka libre pinipilit mo’ and he took it. He learns the lesson and I think that’s why he continues to grow and develop as a player and as a person,” he added.
Oftana’s attitude and resilience, according to Reyes, just epitomizes the culture that the Tropang Giga have right now.
“I just wanted to say that because I think that was an important part of the culture that we have here in this team,” he added.