“Nasa lahi ata.”
Just like what he has been doing this 2017 Governor’s Cup, TNT Katropa’s Glen Rice, Jr. was nothing but spectacular Saturday night. And he performed that way infront of a pro-Barangay Ginebra crowd at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The 26-year-old was the major key in TNT’s rousing 121-92 demolition of the much taller Barangay, finishing with a game-high 36 points on 46 percent shooting, to go along with nine rebounds and a game-high four steals.
Those numbers across Rice, Jr.’s name is not new anymore. But what glared the most in his stat line was the way he shot the ball from beyond-the-arc — the former Washington Wizard shot a career-high 6-of-13 from the said area.
And that is why head coach Nash Racela lauded his youthful reinforcement for his prowess in outside shooting.
“I think other teams don’t really respect his three-point shot. In a way we were surprised, he was hitting his three-pointers. At the same time, it was a joy to watch kasi it helped us eh,” said the first-year head coach.
“Now other teams would think twice about giving that shot. And we knew all along that he’s capable of hitting those. Nasa lahi ata eh,” added Racela of the second-generation cager, whose dad, Glen Sr., was a known shooter.
Even Ginebra import Justin Brownlee was left in awe of the way Rice, Jr. showed his wares against the defending champions.
“Man, that dude, he was unstoppable in the third quarter,” said Brownlee, as Rice, Jr. scored 18 points in the said frame. “I knew what type of player he was. We had a certain way we wanted to guard him. We knew him driving to the basket would hurt our defense.
“Of course we didn’t want to give up that many threes, but he made a lot of three-point shots and made it tough for us.”
Saturday night, withouth any doubt, was Rice, Jr.’s night. But for the Miami, Florida-born cager, he’s just simply elated for he and the Katropa became the first team this conference to secure a twice-to-beat advantage for the playoffs.
“It’s definitely good,” he said. “I think we’re just getting better and better. The longer we play together, really the better we’re gonna get. I just feel that we are where we wanna be.
“We’re playing some of our best basketball until the end.
“It feels good, but we’re just taking it one game at a time,” Rice, Jr. closed, as their sights are now locked in onto the next round.
