Justine Baltazar is no stranger to playing in out-of-town games, but his trip to Batangas City this coming Saturday may mean more to him.
Because it’s going to be his first provincial game in the PBA as Converge takes on Barangay Ginebra in a Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup encounter, making it all the more special for the first overall pick of the 2024 Draft.
“Alam naman natin ‘yung Ginebra grabe ‘yung ano eh, lalo na yung fans nila,” he said. “Sobrang excited ako na makalaban sila ngayon sa 21.”
That matchup against the Kings is probably circled on his own calendar, for it will give him the opportunity to go up against one of his idols, as well as his former teammates at De La Salle University and in Gilas Pilipinas.
“Excited ako na makalaban ko si idol Japeth. Kasi Kapampangan eh,” the Mabalacat-native said. “And then yung teammate ko dati na si Ralph Cu, Abarrientos sa Gilas. Sobrang excited ako na makalaban sila.”
But more than that, the match — set at the Batangas City Coliseum — should be a good test for Baltazar as he continues to find his niche with the FiberXers.
From the looks of it, he’s starting to get as much. Converge on Thursday fought back from 18 down and beat Phoenix, 116-105, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium, with the 27-year-old playing a key role by personifying hustle.
The lengthy big man did struggle putting the ball through the hoop by only shooting 3-of-11 from the floor for six points, but made up for it by collecting 13 rebounds — eight of which he hauled down on the offensive end.
An offensive board of his led to a bucket of his own and that helped put together the telling 9-0 run toward a decade’s worth of a lead, 104-94, with 3:38 left to play, enabling the crew to take control of the game for good.
“Malas talaga ako sa opensa eh, so ‘yun nga, sinabi ko na ‘di man nila ma-shoot ‘yung mga tira nila, dadaanin ko na lang sa sipag sa offensive rebound,” he said. “Medyo sinwerte naman ako ngayon sa offensive rebound.”
Will it be a sign of better things to come? Baltazar simply wants to focus on whatever he’ll be assigned to, and it’s the same versus the Kings.
“Reready lang ako. Ready ko lang sarili ko,” said the former MPBL star.
“‘Di naman kailangang, kumbaga, magpakitang gilas ako eh. Trabaho lang. Kung anuman ‘yung role ko dito sa team namin, ‘yun ang gagawin ko.”
