It seems Jeron Teng is starting to regain his form.
The Alaska Aces may have lost to the San Miguel Beermen in Game Two of the 2018 Commissioner’s Cup semifinals on Monday night, but the celebrated rookie out of La Salle gave the Milkmen something to beam about.
The 24-year-old came off the bench and made the most out of the plus-21 minutes he graced the floor, as he tallied 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the field on top of three rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
This was Teng’s finest game yet since returning to the Aces last July 6 after recovering from the stab wounds he got from the heinous brawl he was involved in outside of a bar in Taguig City last June.
“After the incident, sarap lang talaga maglaro ng basketball ulit.
“I’m just happy I’m back again, playing and helping my teammates,” beamed the fifth overall pick in the 2017 Rookie Draft after the match at SMART Araneta Coliseum. “Next game, we just have to play better.”
“He did a great job,” lauded head coach Alex Compton. “For him to start to get his timing back and play more, be in better shape, I don’t think you would think that Jeron got stabbed a month ago and we’d be worried about his life.
“If you watched the game and didn’t know the situation, you would have never thought that that happened. To be able to play 21 minutes and mix it up, I thought it was great. Wala pa ako hinihingi sa kanya eh, just keep going.
“He kinda personified what we wanted, everybody mixing it up, getting after it, and playing hard.” Compton added.
With such praises coming from his head coach, Teng couldn’t be more thankful.
“It feels great,” the 24-year-old shared. “With the incident, the whole Alaska organization was behind me talaga, they supported me. They visited me, even si Boss [Wilfred] Uytengsu and yung mga coaches, they visited me in the hospital.
“And they’re really supportive with what happened and the case na on-going, so sobrang thankful ko talaga sa kanila, sa buong Alaska organization.”
With the way he played on Monday, it looked like Teng is ready to fully move forward. But for the 6-foot-2 forward, he will only be able to exorcise the ghosts of the past if he and the Aces will be able to go to the Promised Land.
“Ako, gustong-gusto ko talaga maka-abot ng finals eh, mag-champion. After ng incident, siguro ‘pag nag-champion kami, makakalimutan ko na yun.”
