Javi Gomez de Liaño harbors no ill feelings toward Ginebra after beating the team that was supposed to be his first home in the PBA, Sunday night.
The sophomore winger said that there was nothing personal whatsoever after pouring 22 points and six rebounds to help the Dyip score an 81-65 upset against the perennial contenders in the Season 48 Philippine Cup.
“Wala naman,” he said during the postgame presser at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium. “Honestly, I was over it already.”
It could be recalled that Gomez de Liano was drafted by Ginebra with the eighth overall pick in the 2022 PBA Rookie Draft, but he was traded along with Brian Enriquez to Terrafirma for the batch’s No. 2 selection, Jeremiah Gray.
The former Ibaraki import said that he turned his attention to helping the Dyip become better the moment he trained with them for the first time.
“I don’t know why I got traded, but I shifted my focus right away to how I can help Terrafirma,” said the 25-year-old Gomez de Liano.
That’s why there was no other motivation for him when Terrafirma went up against Ginebra but to help them get the W, which they did.
Not only did they send the crowd darlings falling to a three-game slide but the Dyip snapped their own skld for their fourth win of the conference, which has moved them to two wins away from clinching a quarterfinal spot.
“Once I started training with the, from Day One, that’s always been my goal, how can I help my team,” stated the University of the Philippines product.
“I don’t see this team any different from any other team.”
