University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers super rookie CJ Cansino looked like he had an ax to grind when he faced Joe Silva’s University of the East Red Warriors, Saturday afternoon.
And indeed, he did.
In preparation for their game, the Growling Tigers were looking to end a three-game losing skid. Though Cansino was averaging 13.4 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, UST could not get into the win column.
So the 6-foot-2 swingman did his homework.
“Yung adjustment ko, pinapanood ko past games ko, tinitignan ko ano kulang ko para next game, meron din akong pangontra sa next game nila,” shared the UST lifer.
“Pinanood ko lang mga hindi ko nagawa na puwede kong gawin next game.”
But it was not just the recent games he reviewed. He went back further, looking at his games against Joe Silva back in the UAAP Season 80 Juniors Basketball Tournament.
In his final year in UST High, Cansino – who won that season’s Most Valuable Player plum – could not get one over Silva’s Blue Eaglets with the Tiger Cubs losing by an average margin of 24.0 points.
“Si coach Joe Silva, alam ko rin pano siya mag-coach, so tinignan ko rin anong ginawa niya sa akin nung Ateneo pa siya,” Cansino added.
“Kasi siyempre, gagawin din niya sa akin yun.”
His work bore fruit, as Cansino tallied 17 points and 17 rebounds against the Red Warriors. Moreover, it was a very lopsided contest, as the Growling Tigers took an 80-66 wire-to-wire triumph to get back to the win column.
And he is hoping that his work will result in the Thomasians going back to watching the Growling Tigers live.
“Sobrang saya ko. Yung UST community, sobrang sarap maglaro para sa kanila, hindi kayang matumbasan ng pera,” he confessed.
“Yung community namin, pag naririnig ko, grabe. Example last game, may sakit ako, pero paglabas ko, nakita ko crowd so sabi ko pipilitin ko maglaro kahit masakit ulo ko. So ibibigay ko lang best ko and sana, next game, bumawi na sila kasi kelangang kelangan namin sila.”
