After a long while, Anthony Semerad made his presence felt strongly for the TNT Katropa on Sunday evening.
Converted as a stretch four, the 6-foot-3 Semerad unloaded a conference-best 22 points — spiked by six triples — to help the Texters blast the depleted NLEX Road Warriors, 117-106, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
“I guess it’s just that my teammates were moving the ball and I was at the right spot,” praised Semerad moments after the win, where the Katropa made 29 assists.
“And I’m playing four now — three and four, so… There’s open gaps.”
This was the first time that Semerad played four-spot, as he’s been used to playing small forward since his San Beda Red Lions days. But Semerad said that he’s actually becoming comfortable with it.
“But I’ve been practicing, in scrimmages, I’ve been playing a lot, so I guess I’m getting used to it, in the positioning and the different movements than the three,” said the 27-year-old cager from Australia.
“So it’s okay, I like it.”
Katropa head coach Nash Racela said that they’ve been training Semerad to play the four, as he and the team “feel that’s something we will be needing in the future.”
That “future” will be when the Katropa will lose majority of their players this August, as the team’s core will suit up for Gilas and represent the Philippines in the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Semerad can be either in or out of that contingent. But for the four-time NCAA champion, whatever happens, he’s more than prepared, especially now that he’s working on something that will only help the team in the long run.
“Just need to be open to any position,” said Semerad. “You never know, someone gets injured or something like that.
“We’re filled with a lot of guards right now, so it’s just good to spread it out and have some extra weapons.”
