James Yap came out of Rain or Shine’s locker room at the SMART Araneta Coliseum with a sigh of relief on Wednesday night. Two slumps had finally been put to rest.
First, the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters’ two-game skid saw its end with a 120-99 victory over the Phoenix Fuel Masters — a one-sided affair that nobody expected, since Phoenix had been coming off two straight victories.
More importantly, Yap’s personal slump had also come to an end. After shooting just a combined 4-of-26 in the last three games, the two-time league MVP shot 8-of-10 from the floor en route to a conference-high 20 markers.
“Well ako keep working hard lang,” said the 35-year-old of his performance. “Kung pangit yung last two games ko, last three games ata, huwag ka mawalan ng pag-asa. Pag-aralan mo yung pagkukulang mo… I’m not 100 percent sa kundisyon.
“Yun ang wino-work out ko lagi.”
“I think everybody expects James to play well but tao lang din naman siya. Pero you know, what we want from James is to basically play his best. Whether he’s in a slump, we still want him taking shots,” added Rain or Shine head coach Caloy Garcia.
Aside from Yap, six more Elasto Painters scored in double figures in the victory. According to the 14-year league veteran, it was mostly because of the advice he gave his teammates: pull the trigger when given the chance.
“Lagi kong sinasabi sa kanila wala nang isip-isip pa, pag open, tira. Ganun. Yun yung usap-usapan namin sa loob. Pag nasa loob na kami ng court, wala nang isip-isip pa. Tira! So at least yung kumpyansa nandoon,” he said.
“Sana tuloy-tuloy na, madala namin for next game.”
Wednesday’s victory truly means a lot for Yap and the Elasto Painters, who are now 2-2 in the team standings. Now, all that the seven-time champion aims to do is to sustain his rhythm as the 2018 Philippine Cup rolls on.
“Malaking bagay ‘to. Sa lahat ng kumbaga, pinaghirapan mo sa papakundisyon, at least nagbubunga,” said Yap.
“So pagpatuloy ko pa rin ginagawa ko or higitan ko pa para kahit papano ma-sustain or tuloy-tuloy na.”
