Not even one of the premier defenders in the league could stop Terrence Romeo
Entering the tilt pitting the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters against Globalport on Sunday afternoon, Terrence Romeo has been on a tear. The two-time scoring champion broke the 30-point barrier four times in 10 games, including a 35-point outing in a loss against TNT just four days ago.
Everyone expected that the wingspan of 6-foot-6 defensive specialist Gabe Norwood could at least bring down the scoring average of Romeo, who is posting norms of 27.2 points per game on 43.8 percent shooting. However, the league’s most lethal scorer had other plans.
Romeo dropped a career-high 44 points on 16-of-30 shooting, including 8-of-15 from downtown, to go along with six rebounds and six assists. Even with a plethora of Elasto Painters trying to front him, the 5-foot-11 gunslinger was just on fire.
“He hit a lot of shots, a lot of contested shots. It’s a team effort and I did my best to keep him in front of me, force some tough shots, but at the end of the day, we have to be on the same page defensively to stop their guard combination,” Norwood admitted.
“It was tough.”
But the former National Team stalwart commended Romeo and the work he is putting in to improve his game. As they say, game knows game.
“His confidence is through the roof. He works at it. He missed a couple in the first quarter and I told him I know he’ll make the next one cause he puts in the work. He deserves every bucket that goes in.
“He can miss five in a row, but he knows he put in the work to make the next five. Kudos to him and we didn’t do the job to contest him,” the 2010 Defensive of the Year said as Globalport shot 48 percent from the field.
However, the 117-99 loss they were handed was equally frustrating for Norwood. Instead of clinching a quarterfinals berth, they are now losers of three straight and are fighting for their playoff lives.
But still, “The President” remains hopeful that they can get back on track come Wednesday against Alaska.
“We’re all disappointed with ourselves but the biggest thing is we had problems but the answer is in our locker room,” he said.
“We can easily step up in the next game and take care of business and be in a good spot. We got a lot of tough guys and we got to rely on one another to get it done.”
