At A Glance
- The high-scoring guard was unstoppable in the opening frame of the contest, shooting a scorching 12-of-12 clip from the field for an all-time best first quarter scoring of 30 points.
CJ Perez. (PBA Image)
CJ Perez isn’t sweating for the missed chance of scoring 50 points in San Miguel’s finals-clinching 101-88 win over Barangay Ginebra in Game 6 of their PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup semifinal affair.
The high-scoring guard was unstoppable in the opening frame of the contest, shooting a scorching 12-of-12 clip from the field for an all-time best first quarter scoring of 30 points.
But Perez was cooled down by foul trouble and only added 11 points the rest of the way. Though it was still a career-high 41 points, many believed Perez could have scored more if not for his foul situation.
“Kung ipapilit ni Coach, aabutin ko sana,” said Perez when asked about the chance of scoring 50.
“Pero I’m still grateful na nakuha ko yung ganitong career-high. But it will not stop here.I will continue to play hard,” he added.
Should Perez have not gotten into foul trouble, he will have the full backing from his coaching staff to set a career-best scoring as high as he can.
“Alam mo kung hindi siya nag-foul trouble, ipabubuo ko sa kanya yung game eh,” Austria said of Perez.
Perez said the feeling he had during the game was pretty much the same when he had his previous career-high of 39 points with Columbian Dyip.
“Nung na-shoot ko ‘yung una, pangalawa, pangatlo, pag-apat, parang tinira ko na lang. Tinitira ko lang, pumapasok. Doon pumasok ‘yung kumpiyansa,” said Perez.
“And nakikita ko naman sila coach sa bench, talagang tiwalang tiwala. Pag tira ko pa lang, nakikita ko ‘yung mukha nila, hindi sila nakasimangot,” he added.
Though marching back to another Finals against TNT, SMB isn’t expecting an easier challenge this time around.
“I think they are thinking of getting back at us,” said Austria.
“Alam naman natin how hard it is to defeat TNT, especially with their experience in the last three conferences. They were in the Finals,” he added.