ANTIPOLO — Gian Mamuyac seized the chance to take command in one of Rain or Shine’s timeouts in their eventual win over Terrafirma, Wednesday.
The Elasto Painters’ captain was shown on the broadcast sitting on the same stool that head coach Yeng Guiao sits on during huddles, with the tactical board in hand as he was mapping out a play while all of his teammates willingly listened.
It happened during the fourth quarter, and according to him, he was simply advising his squad about a certain adjustment being made by their foes.
“Sakto kasi, maaga natapos si Coach Yeng mag-explain,” related ‘Mamu’ moments after their 124-117 victory at the Ynares Center here to stretch their unbeaten run to seven in the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup.
“Nagkaroon ng opportunity; mahaba pa ‘yung timeout, eh. And may nakita ako sa defense na ginagawa ng Terrafirma,” added the Ateneo de Manila product, “so, ‘yun lang, sinubukan ko lang sabihin sa teammates ko.”
It was an interesting sight, but also speaks to how much the team trusts and respects one another, something that Mamuyac is proud of.
“Ayun naman maganda sa team namin, lahat may boses,” the 27-year-old winger said. “Lahat may leeway na sabihin kung ano yung nakikita nila.
“Tulong-tulong din naman ang basketball, eh. Ayun. Nagkataon lang na ako yung nakakita nung adjustment na ‘yun, and ‘yun, mabuti na lang nakapag-adjust naman kami.”
Playing as a cohesive unit has been the bread-and-butter for one of the PBA’s most exciting teams today, and their conquest of the Dyip is further proof, as all but one of the 16 players scored at least two.
Mamuyac himself contributed nicely in the balanced attack with 11 points off the bench. He also had four assists and three of the team’s 14 steals.
The entire team finished with 31 assists, which enabled them to shoot well, especially from deep. In fact, they had a total of 23 triples — a new franchise record and tying the PBA mark for most threes in a single game.
“We’re staying to our system,” offered Mamuyac about their success in this midseason conference thus far. “Palagi naming binibilisan ‘yung bola, ‘yung ball movement namin, and talagang tulong-tulong namin ginagawa.
“Hindi kami nagre-rely sa individual personnel,” the former fifth overall pick added. “Tulong-tulong kami, balanced scoring kami. Iikot at iikot yung bola, kung makikita niyo iba iba halos ang nagpe-Player of the Game.”
“Ganun lang din talaga ‘yung kagandahan ng system namin and hopefully magtuloy-tuloy. Lahat lang nag-buy in sa system.”
