Monday night at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City was just another ordinary PBA D-League Foundation Cup game date. For the Banal household however, it was a family reunion of sorts.
It was the very first time that Flying V Thunder forward Gab Banal went up against Marinerong Pilipino coached by Joel, his dad, and his uncle Koy. And, the younger Banal admitted that it brought him lots of emotions.
“I had mixed feelings,” said the 26-year-old swing man moments after the Thunder’s win that sent their card to 4-0. “We went to the game together. Siyempre siya yung nagturo sa’kin ng basketball so lahat ng tendencies ko, alam niya.
“First time ‘to.”
Aside from the mixed feelings he had, the sweet-shooting forward also revealed that it was awkward and unusual for him that he went up versus his father, his first-ever mentor.
“Medyo awkward, sasabihin niya ‘God bless, good luck’ eh magkalaban kami,” said Banal, who finished with 12 points, with a chuckle. “Mixed yung feelings pero siyempre, at the end of the game, it’s just basketball.
“Medyo nakakapanibago, kasi you’re going up against your dad.”
And like any other father and son, off-court jabs also took place between the two.
“Coming into the game, we were trash-talking. Sabi ko ‘mananalo ba kayo sa amin?’ Sabi niya, ”Di yan yung tanong eh. Ang tanong, ilan lamang namin sa inyo?’ So nung lumamang sila ng 18 points, sabi ko hindi ‘to puwede mangyari!
“So yun, at the end of the game, sobrang saya ko na nanalo kami,” the 22nd overall pick in the 2014 PBA Draft added.
But then again, it was simply basketball at the end of the day, and he and his dad just fulfilled the tasks they have to do for their respective teams.
“I was just focusing on the game, and I really just wanted to win badly,” said Banal. “I just really wanted to win this game. I know that they also wanted to win this game — they needed this game badly because they have two losses.
“And us, we gotta clean up that record [of] 4-0. Good thing we showed that character of the team, we were able to recover from that 18-point [deficit].”
