Defense has always been the calling card of Ateneo team captain Gian Mamuyac all throughout his UAAP career. However, the evolution of his game is evident as he has been showing his much-improved offense in UAAP Season 84 thus far.
Just last Thursday, Mamuyac notched a new career-high in scoring after producing 21 markers on 4-of-7 from deep in their game against University of the East.
The 6-foot-1 swingman went on to finish the first round with the highest three-point percentage in the league after shooting 44-percent through seven games.
His sweet shooting was on display once again as he led the Blue Eagles in their 75-68 rout of La Salle on Tuesday evening to keep their record unblemished at 8-0. Mamuyac top-scored for Ateneo with 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field along with a rebound in close to 21 minutes of action.
After the game, he credited his improvement on offense to Tab Baldwin’s program and Ateneo’s coaching staff for molding him to be the player that he is today.
“I think it just shows how great this program is and how great this program develops its players,” the 23-year-old Mamuyac shared. “And also, I just want to give credit to the coaching staff, not only do they give me unlimited confidence, but also they stay in the gym with us and work with us.
“As much as I wanna get all the credit, ‘di puwede kasi the coaching staff did their part,” he joked.
“I wouldn’t be shooting this well or I wouldn’t be the kind of player I am without them.”
Baldwin also spoke about Mamuyac’s improvement through the years and commended how hard he has worked to polish his overall game on both ends of the floor.
“Players develop reputations, especially effective players,” the former Gilas mentor claimed. “Mamu has always been effective as a defensive player and you develop a reputation for that. But he’s a professional young man — he doesn’t just rest on the fact that he’s a defensive player.
“His ball-handling has improved, his passing has improved, and obviously, his shooting has improved. And it’s improved because he’s worked at it and he’s just another good example in our program of a guy that strives to be a complete basketball player.”
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