Adrian Nocum is fully embracing the bigger role for Rain or Shine with head coach Yeng Guiao giving him the keys to the team’s offense and creating for himself and the rest of the team.

The 26-year-old high-flying guard not only shone on scoring in the Elasto Painter’s back-to-back wins but also saw a huge jump in his numbers in the assists department.

Nocum averaged 15.5 points per contest to go with 9.0 assists and 4.5 rebounds through the last two games. He even recorded a career-high 10 assists in the 110-99 win over Barangay Ginebra.

“(That’s) on purpose trying to play him a lot more minutes at the point (guard position). His decision-making is getting better, more mature. He's also partly, nagpapakita din siya ng leadership,” said Guiao.

Nocum, for his part, stressed that he is simply taking advantage of the opportunities given to him by the coaching staff while working to improve his game and fulfill the added responsibilities.

“Sumusunod lang din naman ako sa sistema ng mga coaches so everytime na may chance na maibibigay sa akin, igigrab ko,” Nocum said.

The adjustment has not been easy, but Nocum welcomed the challenge as he looks to grow into his new role and become a more complete player, especially with the departure of Gian Mamuyac and the continuous absence of point guard Felix Lemetti.

“Challenge din sa akin iyon pero kailangan ko rin mag-improve, so malaking tulong din yung binibigay sa akin ni Coach Yeng na role. Kailangan ko ring gampanan at trabahuhin,” he added.