Even after seven championships, 14 years in the league, and thousands of games under his belt, the competitive drive is still there for 36-year-old James Yap.
And same could be said for the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, who were down by as much as 19 points against the Phoenix Fuel Masters, Saturday evening. Instead of just giving up, they rallied around each other and stormed back.
“Sabi ni coach [Caloy Garcia] sa dugout, baka nag-rerelax kayo sa alam niyo na na pasok na tayo sa quarterfinals,” recalled Yap.
“During halftime, I told the players that we can’t be complacent against any team as I felt that we didn’t want to win today’s game,” disclosed Garcia. “I just told them that we have to at least keep the game close to have a chance at beating Phoenix.”
Early in the final frame, the Elasto Painters were still down by six when the gunner from Negros Occidental showed that he could still take over.
Yap scored on an and-one play to turn the game into a one-possession contest. After Rain or Shine got a stop, the 6-foot-3 sniper knocked down the game-tying triple.
After those plays, the momentum clearly shifted towards the favor of the Elasto Painters as they were able to keep their twice-to-beat hopes alive with a 108-106 victory.
The game showed that the fire is still there for Yap.
“Masarap, aaminin ko masarap.
“Pero siyempre si coach may diskarte naman e, nirerespeto ko diskarte niya. Kung ano takbo ng game, basta ako ready lang, nagpapakundisyon lang ako. Kaya naging maganda yung result nung tinawag yung name ko. Ready ako at nakapag-deliver ako,” he beamed.
Big game James is still alive and kicking.
