CJ Cansino is now feeling the defenses tightening up on him now that he’s been playing remarkably well in the ongoing PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup.
The sophomore winger realized as much during Meralco’s eventual defeat to TNT in Game 1 of their PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup best-of-seven semifinal series on Sunday, in which his supposed big game did not pan out.
“Kailangan ko pa mag-adjust,” he told reporters moments after their 100-95 loss at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
“Kasi siyempre, ‘pag maganda ‘yung first quarter mo ine-expect mo na magbabago ‘yung depensa sa’yo eh.”
Cansino presided over the Bolts’ hot start into the match, dropping 13 points in just the opening period alone to steer his side to a 38-26 advantage.
But of course, the Tropang 5G would come up with the necessary adjustments, and one of which was limiting the 26-year-old, which they accomplished.
He was no longer as impactful as in the first quarter, and Chot Reyes’ charges went on to bring themselves back into the game after being down by 21.
“That’s on me because we prepared a game plan that they picked apart. The players simply were following and executing the defensive game plan that we prepared, and Meralco just picked it apart,” the champion mentor said.
“That’s on me. So we had to make sure that we made the right adjustments at halftime. I think ayun ang nangyari.”
Cansino ended the night with 14 points, with his final point of the game coming off a split from the foul line, which tied things up at 86-all with 6:49 left.
“Iba talaga pagka-playoffs eh, lalo na ‘pag semis,” said the 11th overall pick of the 2024 Draft, who’s actually playing in his first-ever PBA semis.
As tough as it was, the former UAAP gold medalist with the University of the Philippines is charging all of Game 1 into experience.
“Happy ako na lumalabas ‘yung tinrabaho ko nung offseason. Pero ‘yun nga, bigger responsibility na. And siyempre, kailangan kong mag-perform talaga, lalo na’t importante ‘yung mga last few minutes eh,” he said.
In fact, Cansino is keeping his chin up despite what happened, believing that he’s getting the respect from opposing teams for being a target on defense.
“I’m happy kasi next level na ‘yun ng laro ko, which is kailangan kong mas aralin pa, mas trabahuhin pa,” he said.
“Good opportunity siya para sa akin.”
#WATCH: KAILANGAN AKONG MAG-ADJUST 🏀
CJ Cansino says Game 1 of the #PBA50 semifinals is a learning experience for him as TNT’s defense has zoned on him#ReadMore 👉 https://t.co/K3F0bu8RAt
📹 @justinebacnis /Tiebreaker Times pic.twitter.com/yrT2bZMUB3
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) January 4, 2026
