Cheers and adoration rained down on Chris Tiu on Saturday evening as he played what could be the final game of his solid basketball career, when his Rain or Shine Elasto Painters battled the NLEX Road Warriors.
And the six-year league veteran made sure to leave a lasting impression.
Tiu – the Elasto Painters’ seventh overall pick in the 2012 Rookie Draft – exploded and reset his career-high yet again with 30 points to tow the Elasto Painters past the Road Warriors and his former coach Yeng Guiao, 107-101.
“Ito pala pakiramdam na parati ka pinapasahan at pinapatira ka ng pinapatira. Talagang walang konsensiya eh, tira lang ng tira. Ito pala pakiramdam, ang sarap pala. I think this is the most attempts that I took,” he quipped.
At 33 years young, Tiu’s possible retirement comes as a surprise, especially since he has been on a tear this 2018 Governors’ Cup. But for him, family comes first, and that is one of the reasons why he might be exiting.
“I’ve got a lot of things going on also outside of basketball. Just getting busier. I have personal commitments also. I have some projects of my own and I also have some obligations to my family,” said the floor general.
“My kids are growing up fast. I wanna spend a lot of time with them especially at these formative years.”
Assuming that he has played his last game this Saturday evening, Tiu was asked if he’ll still be around basketball, but in a different capacity. Tiu isn’t closing his doors, but also said it was unlikely to be in the near future.
“Not in the near future. There are things going on. I think we have a lot of seasoned coaches in the Philippines in all levels. Management-wise I wish I own the team (laughs) but whatever happens I’ll be here to support,” he said.
“These guys I enjoyed working with, they’re a bunch of great guys and I’ll support them anyway I can.”
But if he really is leaving the game he has loved so much, Tiu will be walking away without any regrets. For him, he believes that he was able to do what was needed from him by the Elasto Painters organization.
“I’m happy with my performance. I think given all my other commitments I did what I could to help my team … and I’m very thankful to coach Caloy (Garcia) because he gave me an opportunity this year more,” Tiu said.
“This year coach Caloy trusted me and he allowed me to play my game especially during the endgames … Glad I was able to perform this way even if its towards the latter years of my career.”
