Keanu Caballero remains unfazed with the fact that he is the smallest among the latest batch of cagers hoping to make it to the PBA.
He acknowledges that it could be a disadvantage of sorts since he’s going up against much bigger competition. Still, the 5-foot-5 floor general does not lack the confidence as he attempts to gain attention from ball clubs.
“‘Di ko na iniisip yung height eh,” he said during the Draft Combine, Wednesday.
“Nandito naman ako para subukan kung hanggang saan ako.”
Caballero believes that playmaking is his edge against the other aspirants, something that he was able to develop from other leagues.
In the Chooks-to-Go VisMIn Super Cup Mindanao Challenge last December, the Centro Escolar University product averaged 11.0 points and 6.3 assists. Moreover, he led Pagadian to a semifinal finish.
“Siguro ‘yung magiging confidence ko rito ‘yung pagiging beterano ko sa loob,” offered the 26-year-old, who also saw action in the D-League and NBL.
“Kung paano maglaro, mag-facilitate ng team, gumawa ng plays, ano maco-contribute ko sa team (para) i-angat sila to give our best na manalo.”
Caballero now has a shot of becoming the next one from the esteemed Scorpions program to reach the big league. He could join the likes of Samboy de Leon, Joseph Sedurifa, and JK Casino, to name a few.
And so, he only keeps in mind the remainder of his seniors as he tries to be one of the lucky few to be called in the draft proceedings on Sunday.
“Sinabi lang nila na ‘pag nagpa-draft, bigay mo ‘yung makakaya mo,” he said.
“‘Yun lang naman sa akin, bibigay ko lang ‘yung best ko.”
