For much of his collegiate career, JL Delos Santos made a living as a playmaker for Jose Rizal University.
He would set the table for the Heavy Bombers with precise passing and an elite ability to read passing lanes, finding the open man.
Delos Santos’ excellence as a facilitator ultimately led Coach Aldin Ayo and the Converge FiberXers to draft the 24-year-old with the 19th pick over other big-name NCAA stars such as James Kwekuteye, JB Bahio, Fran Yu, among others.
Delos Santos’ stint in the NCAA Season 99 Seniors Basketball Tournament has been far from a different story. The Cavite-native continued to make his living as a playmaker, averaging 7.53 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 5.8 assists in 30 minutes and 14 seconds of play.
His 5.8 assists are the second-highest in the league, behind only Lyceum of the Philippines University’s Vince Cunanan.
In JRU’s battle against Colegio de San Juan de Letran on Friday afternoon, Delos Santos showed he can do more than just set up his teammates for easy points.
He dropped 14 points, seven rebounds, and three assists on a highly efficient 4-of-6 shooting from the field and 6/8 shooting from the free-throw line.
Moreover, his performance helped bury the Knights in a 79-74 victory.
Ever the team player, Delos Santos gave most of the credit for his scoring output to his bigs, who opened up driving lanes for him through their hard picks in JRU’s screen actions.
“Siguro ‘yung ano lang, bibigyan ko ding credit ‘yung mga big-man ko kasi tinatamaan nila ‘yung screens eh. ‘Yung defender ko tinatamaan nila, so nagkakaroon ako ng lane na open ako at tinatake ko naman ‘yung shot,” explained Delos Santos.
“Kanina medyo maaga kami at nag-practice kami dito ng shooting namin kaya siguro nahulog lang din talaga.”
The 5-foot-11 point guard – who will play for Converge after the season – added that his increased scoring load was not a product of a difference in aggression.
Rather, it was a result of finding himself as the best scoring option at the end of their offensive sets.
“Hindi ko naman hinahanap ‘yung points ko, siguro ‘yun nga breaks of the game na-open lang talaga ako.
“’Yung screens talagang tumatama, at kapag nakakablow-by ako kasi mali ‘yung closeout naboblowby ko and nakukuha ko ‘yung practice ko kanina. Tinitira ko lang kasi ‘yun rin naman ‘yung sinabi sa amin, kung open take the shot,” Delos Santos explained.
For assistant coach Alex Callueng, the extra scoring burst that Delos Santos offered in Saturday’s matchup was highly beneficial to the Heavy Bombers’ entire offense as it added an extra layer to their attack.
“I think it’s really important kasi nagkakaroon rin ng second and third dimension doon sa diversity ng team. Hindi siya nagre-relax sa game niya na mag-setup, magpasa, ngayon nangyayari, hindi naman niya gusto, but he always tries to find his own offense if there’s an opportunity. Hindi tulad dati na nagde-deliver lang siya ng pasa,” Callueng said.
“We are trying really hard na i-remind siya na, pag open ka, itira mo. Very unselfish ‘yung bata. Gusto niya laging systematic ‘yung gagawin sa loob, follow the system first before his own.”
Delos Santos and the rest of JRU are set to enter a tough stretch of games to end the second round, facing other contenders like Emilio Aguinaldo College, Mapua University, and San Beda University.
For each of those games, the Heavy Bombers will hope their trusty point guard can keep his hot streak going and bring them to the Final Four.
