Caelan Tiongson clearly didn’t want to miss his first PBA game as he refused to lay down on sick bay and suited up for Rain or Shine’s season debut Tuesday.
The well-traveled pro had a fever the morning of the Elasto Painters’ Governors’ Cup meeting versus Blackwater and caused concern among the coaches, but still made it a point not just to show up but to perform so commendably.
He went on to play for a little over 20 minutes and finished with 15 points and five rebounds to help his side to a 110-97 victory for a successful start to the tilt.
“I was a little worried kanina kay Caelan. Caelan called in sick this morning,” said head coach Yeng Guiao shortly after the match at the SMART Araneta Coliseum, adding that his ward was having diarrhea at the same time.
Apparently, the sickness was part of Tiongson’s adjustment to the local weather, admitting that he’s still working on it since arriving in the country.
Helping him get through, at least for Tuesday’s game, was ibuprofen, and the focus from here on out, he said, is staying hydrated to acclimatize better.
“I’m just getting acclimated to the country, we had a couple of practices where the gym was pretty hot, so I need to do a better job of getting my vitamins and minerals, things like that, and staying hydrated,” he said.
Still, Tiongson played like he was hardly sick. He was actually integral in Rain or Shine’s second-quarter attack, scoring 11 of his points in that frame to help his side build a 59-50 lead entering the halftime intermission.
“Coach Yeng does a great job of getting all of us confident,” he said of his showing, where he shot 50-percent. “Really, just coming in and trusting my teammates who also trust me, and just playing with the flow of the game.
“Some games, it’s not gonna be scoring, some games it’s gonna be defensive rebounding. So tonight I happened to shoot a little more but, yeah, it was just easy — my teammates made it really easy,” he furthered.
The former ASEAN Basketball League star’s performance somewhat gave a peek of what lies ahead for a young team like the Elasto Painters as his fellow rookie in Felix Lemetti made a good account of himself as well in the win.
Picked after Tiongson in the first round of the Season 49 Draft last July, the Fil-Swede guard had 11 points on three triples, three rebounds, and two assists.
Usual suspects like Santi Santillan and Gian Mamuyac also delivered in the win and having the kind of depth they have now makes the 32-year-old excited.
“Coach Yeng trusts all of us to play good basketball, so we all come in confident and ready to go. I think in terms of depth, I think it will be hard for teams to really compete,” said Tiongson, the seventh overall pick of the recent draft.
“I mean, I can name five, six, seven guards and then five, six, seven bigs who are ready to come in and contribute, whether it be rebounding, points, everything. We have a talented squad, for sure,” he added.
But for now, all that he’s looking forward to is Wednesday’s rest day, hoping, of course, to get at max health again for a rigorous conference ahead.
“I’m ready for our rest day tomorrow, for sure. But just so the media knows, 32 years old, still doing it, huh,” Tiongson quipped with a smile.
