Rookie Barkley Eboña made a good account of himself in Alaska’s match versus Phoenix Pulse in the Phoenix Super Basketball Tourney, Monday at the Upper Deck Sports Center in Pasig.
The 6-foot-6 big man showed grit, especially inside the paint. He also had a hand in the Aces’ 15-6 run that turned a slim three-point lead to a wide 90-78 advantage with 5:57 left to play.
Eboña contributed eight points, four rebounds, and two assists as Alaska registered the 98-87 victory.
“What you saw a little bit today was how Barkley plays. And that’s the reason why we wanted him because he’s a guy who’s no-nonsense. Feeling naman hindi siya napapagod eh,” said coach Jeff Cariaso.
“Takbo nang takbo, rebound nang rebound. He’s not afraid to be physical. He knows he’s a little undersized, but we like the fact that he’s not backing down.”
Eboña saw action for a total of 20 minutes and 10 seconds. And for the 23-year-old cager out of Far Eastern University, he simply maximized the time that Cariaso gave him.
“Mindset ko is every time ipasok ako ni coach Jeff, kahit seconds or one minute pa ‘yan, gagawin ko lang pinapagawa niya. Gagawin ko lang role ko para makatulong sa team,” he said.
Cariaso said that Eboña has been working with coach Danny Ildefonso, so the team expects his game to grow.
“He’s working a lot with coach Danny, so we expect his offensive game to improve also,” said the former PBA cager.
Eboña, of course, feels extremely honored and grateful to work with one of the league’s all-time greats, and this is definitely an opportunity which he will never take for granted.
“Coach Danny, alam naman natin na legend ‘yan. Sobrang grateful ako na nasa Alaska siya,” said Eboña, whom the Aces took with the fourth pick in the regular phase of the 2019 Rookie Draft. “Every after practice namin nagpapaturo talaga ako kay coach Danny at saka kay coach Tony [Dela Cruz].
“Malaking tulong talaga sila. Kasi maraming nagsasabi ‘pag nasa pros ka, sariling sikap mo na. Grateful ako kasi willing din silang tumulong sa ‘kin. Hindi nila ako pinababayaan.”
