Juaqui Garcia caught fire when Mapua University routed Jose Rizal University via a 74-49 victory on Wednesday.
The 5-foot-10 guard of the Cardinals found himself overflowing with confidence as he scored most of his eight of 17 points in the fourth quarter on a 62.5-percent shooting beyond the arc. He also had two boards and two assists.
Alongside his efforts, his dad/coach Yong Garcia also boosted him when shooting those three-pointers in the game.
“‘Yun nga parang natuturuan niya ako kasi naging player din siya dati. Like may mga certain times na sasabihin niya sa akin na na-experience niya na ‘to, eto ‘yung dapat kong gawin. Tuturuan niya ako tapos ‘yun lang gagawin ko,” shared the assistant coach.
“Advantage off the court natuturuan niya ako, nasasabihan niya ako sa mga lapses ko and mistakes ko. Wala naman siguro disadvantage, puro advantage.
“Sinisigawan, sinisigawan [niya ako]. Wala naman special treatment, same lang sa lahat,” he stated.
Assistant coach Garcia had no doubts about his son delivering for the team, since he mentioned that his kid always does extra work on and off the court.
The second-in-command coach was also once a former Mapua Cardinal player in 1990-91 alongside PBA legend Benny Cheng. And the elder Garcia’s experiences in his college years have imprinted on his son the importance of extra work and positivity, whether in training or in-game.
“Talaga ‘yung sakripisyo ni [Juaqui], ‘yung ginagawa niyang extra practice lumabas sa game na ngayon,” said the assistant coach. “And sinasabi ko nga sa kanya nga palagi, basta lagi ka lang positive, every time na gamitin ka dapat lagi ka ready, and kailangan lagi nag-i-istart dun sa extra work.
“Ang lagi ko naman sinasabi kay Juaqui ‘si Juaqui naman basta binigyan mo ng chance lagi naman ready. Ang sinasabi ko lang sa kanya lagi na everytime na gagamitin ka, bibigay mo lagi ‘yung best effort mo. And sabi ko sa kanya na lagi lang positive.”
Garcia is averaging 4.9 points, 0.7 rebounds, and 0.7 assists per game this season.
Moreover, the extra work was worth it for Garcia, as he confidently trusted his shooting in the game.
With Mapua now standing with a 5-9 win-loss card, the Parañaque-bred player will slowly gain momentum with the team to survive this second round.
“Siguro ‘yung momentum lang namin na mag sunod-sunod ‘yung panalo namin; mabalik ‘yung confidence namin; ma-boost ulit ‘yung confidence namin – ‘yun ‘yung [ine-emphasize] namin sa team,” said Juaqui.
“Siguro dahil lang sa extra works din, tapos confidence na rin siguro, kaya ‘yun shumo-shoot [‘yung tira ko].”
