Javi Gomez de Liaño felt relieved to finally take to the floor with Ibaraki on Saturday.
After almost two months of no basketball, the 6-foot-5 winger not only got to play; he also nailed his first point as a pro.
“To be honest, I’m really happy,” the 23-year-old product of University of the Philippines said. His first points in the B.League came when he knocked down a triple a minute and 54 seconds after he came up from the bench.
“That’s my first point as a professional basketball player.”
But after that was an eye-opener of what pro basketball is.
Gomez de Liano struggled the rest of the way against Osaka.
Despite playing with minutes restriction as coach Richard Glesmann is still integrating the Fil-Spaniard to his lineup, Gomez de Liano could not find good looks during his 13 minutes of game time.
Moreover, Evessa imports like DJ Newbill and Kyle Hunt got the better of the Robots’ Asian Quota player during switches.
And for Gomez de Liano, it made him hungrier to work and just be better.
“I think it was obviously upsetting on my end, I know I have a lot of work to do. There are no excuses for me right now.
“On my part, I can’t be shy,” said Gomez de Liaño, who had three points on 1-of-4 shooting in their 72-90 loss to Evessa. “I should be more aggressive and be more confident with myself. I should also do a better job in defending my opponents.”
Ibaraki will once again meet Osaka tomorrow at 2:05PM.
After finally making his debut, Gomez de Liano vows to do whatever it takes to repay the trust given to him by the Robots organization.
“I’m just getting started. For the upcoming games, I’ll do a better job playing and win those games.”
