Cheick Diallo will always be a team-first guy, but he was undeniably the reason why Converge reconnected to its winning ways in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup on Tuesday night by sending NLEX skidding.
The former NBA big man produced 37 points and 18 rebounds, coming through in the fourth quarter to help the FiberXers repel the Road Warriors and eventually get back on track after losing to NorthPort last week.
“This is a team win,” he said after their 102-91 win at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium. “We just gotta follow the scouting report and thank the coaching staff for doing a great job preparing us for the game. Everybody was on the same page.”
It was his best performance in the conference since unloading 43 points albeit in a losing effort against Cam Clark and Hong Kong Eastern last November 29.
Converge can feel more optimistic, too, since this could be a sign of better things to come from the 28-year-old as he’s regained his form.
For starters, Diallo scored a total of 23 points in their last two outings. He only scored 10 in their escape from Magnolia after being the target on defense, then had 13 versus the Batang Pier as he was saddled by foul trouble.
Then came the big bounce-back, leaving FiberXers acting coach Franco Atienza glad to have witnessed the Malian reinforcement perform that way.
(C) PBA Images
“A good bounce-back game for CD, he proved his worth right here,” he offered. “Although we’re least worried about his numbers, because this is a great league and sometimes, you get scouted; teams plan for you.
“Right now it just so happened that we’re getting him. We’re seeing him and guys are feeding off his strength,” the seasoned mentor added.
It couldn’t get more timely as well, now that Converge has entered a tiring stretch in which it’s set to play two more games in the next four days.
After Tuesday’s outing, the FiberXers will take on Phoenix also at NAS before facing Ginebra on Saturday at the Batangas City Coliseum.
Diallo is embracing the challenges ahead.
“We really needed to win this game. We’re gonna take it game by game,” he said.
“We got another one in a few days. Tomorrow we’ll just recover, practice again, and come back and play again,” added the former Kansas Jayhawk.
“We gotta take every game like it’s a championship game for us.”
