Greg Smith II couldn’t be any happier to finally play in the PBA after his supposed stint with Rain or Shine years ago didn’t see the light of day.
The American winger was all set to take the place of Dior Lowhorn as the Elasto Painters’ import for the 2016 Governors’ Cup, only to exceed the 6-foot-5 height limit set for foreign reinforcements in the season-ending conference.
Smith measured at 6’5″ 1/16, and RoS would never find stability in its import situation for the rest of the tilt — it settled for Jason Forte following the development, but eventually replaced him with Josh Dollard.
“I was so disappointed last time when I didn’t meet the height requirement,” the 32-year-old admitted. “This is somewhere I really wanted to be.
“At that time, they were just coming off a win in the previous conference, this is a team that wants to win,” he added as the Painters just ruled the 2016 Commissioner’s Cup then.
“I know that from when I was here the last time.”
But it’s better late than never, as the old saying goes. Smith, seven years later, would find himself flying back to Manila.
Rain or Shine came calling anew, finding a replacement for Michael Qualls after losing its first four matches of the ongoing Governors’ Cup.
And this time, the team no longer faced any setbacks whatsoever. The league, for the second season in a row, implemented an under 6-foot-6 height limit for the third conference, easily clearing the Nebraska native.
He finally suited up on Sunday, and there’s no better way to start his PBA career with a win as the Elasto Painters beat Blackwater, 122-117, for win no. 1.
“When Mike [Buendia] gave me the call to come out here,” said Smith moments after the match at the Mall of Asia Arena, “I wanted to do the same. They said that they’re 0-4, I want to do my best to try and help the team win.”
He did help his team win and did so in an impressive fashion. Smith finished with 38 points, together with six rebounds, five assists, and a steal.
Eleven of his points came in the fourth quarter, where he helped RoS to a 19-5 start into the period to turn an eight-point deficit to a 106-100 lead.
More than the numbers, his all-around play seemingly sparked his teammates, as four locals finished in double figures — Santi Santillan scored 16, while Nick Demusis, Shaun Ildefonso, and Beau Belga all had 12 apiece.
“Actually, I talked to Greg right when he came in, and we all know the imports have to produce the numbers. But I also told him that it’s gonna be easier for us to win games if we’re able to involve our locals,” said coach Yeng Guiao.
“Our locals can score. We know those guys can make contributions on offense, so we’re getting there. I think this is a good start,” he added.
Smith simply wanted to make his long travel back to Manila worth it by delivering his team its breakthrough in the tourney.
“I’m somebody who’s as prideful as anybody, and I want to win, and I feel like — like Coach said, I had a really long flight. I really don’t feel like losing after I got off that flight. So, I’m just trying to do as much as I can to, you know, help.”
Still, Smith is far from satisfied with the way he performed, saying that he’s still in the process of adapting to almost everything here.
“It’s so much hotter here than it is home,” he said. “There’s, like, snow on the ground and stuff where I was. So it’s a little different for me playing in this heat, and I still haven’t really slept. I think we’re 14 hours behind, where I am.
“So I’m still trying to adjust to that. But of course, as we get more practice time, we get more reps and get more comfortable with everybody, more comfortable with where I am, I think I’ll be able to keep on ratcheting it up,” added Smith, who shot 9-of-17 from the field but went 15-of-25 from the line.
“Hopefully, this isn’t my best game. I want this to be my worst game.”
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The second game of each PBA gameday is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
