SUBIC — Shooters shoot. That’s what they do even after a whole year without basketball.
John Wilson, the league-leader in points this Chooks-to-Go MPBL Lakan Cup with an average of 19.7 points per game, is a true testament to that expression.
Despite the Lakan playoffs on a halt for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Wilson showed no rust in San Juan-Go for Gold’s first game back in the Subic bubble here, or at least that’s what the stat sheet said.
Playing against an extremely shorthanded Makati-Super Crunch last March 10, the NCAA Season 86 MVP put up 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting on top of six rebounds, four assists, and two steals — all in just less than 18 minutes of gametime.
Even with such a dominant game though, Wilson bared Friday on Tiebreaker Vodcast’s Crossover: Inside the Chooks-to-Go MPBL bubble that that game was anything but easy for him.
“Pagdating sa court especially nung sa Makati ang bigat pa ng legs, kukunin pa yung timing at rhythm mo so kahit lima lang yung naglaro sa Makati talagang nahirapan yung katawan ko,” said the first player in league history to reach 1,000 points.
And that rust in Wilson took a while before he finally shook it off.
But he didn’t let it remove what he does best. Again, shooters shoot.
In the National Finals Game One’s 75-77 overtime loss against Davao Occidental-Cocolife, the rust was still a factor for Wilson in the first half.
He only took five shots in the first 20 minutes of action, but that would be the last remnants of it. The 2009 NCAA MVP had 10 more in the second half although their push was not enough to overturn the Tigers.
“Nung first half ng Game One talagang naghahabol ako, yung pagdating ng third quarter until Game Two may rhythm na ako,” expressed Wilson.
Wilson was more of himself in Game Two as he led the Knights to a 70-65 victory, Thursday, to tie the best-of-five series at a game apiece.
And with the 6-foot-2 pure scorer now finding his rhythm and timing, the National Finals will surely continue to live up to its billing.
“May rhythm na ako, may timing na ako so ang mindset ko lang is maging consistent every game hanggang sa dulo ng series na ito.”
Game Three will be on Saturday, 3 pm, still at the neutral Subic Bay Gymnasium here.
