Bittersweet, perhaps.
Kevin Ferrer made his way out of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel’s locker room at the SM Mall of Asia Arena, Saturday evening, with dejection and disappointment clearly etched in his face.
Ferrer has the right to feel gloomy, after all. Not only did the Barangay suffer a 91-89 defeat to the Star Hotshots that dug them to a 0-2 series deficit, but his best game yet as a pro was put to futility.
The 6-foot-4 rookie was Ginebra’s linchpin on offense, dropping a career-high 25 markers on a 10-of-20 shooting from the field, with 5-of-11 coming from the three-point area.
Before Saturday night’s career game, the University of Santo Tomas standout’s best game happened last December 18 in a loss against Alaska. There, he scored 19 points on 6-of-14 shooting.
Ferrer was coming off a seven-point outing back in Game 1, and his notable performance in Game 2 was clearly indicative of his desire to bounce back and help the Barangay even the series.
It was indeed a notable performance for the rookie, but not a preferred result. Asked about his game, Ferrer brushed it off, lamenting that his 25-point outing means literally nothing since they lost.
“That’s a bad game kasi talo,” said the two-time UAAP silver medalist.
“Kahit ano pang naiskor ko dyan, kahit high score pa yan, basta talo, ‘di ko na pinapansin yan.”
“Gusto ko lang manalo yung team,” the 23-year-old said, who posted averages of 4.9 points and 2.4 rebounds along with 15.7 minutes of action per game during the elimination phase.
Asked for further thoughts with regards to Ginebra’s preparation heading into Game 3, the soft-spoken forward did not say much, but rather promised that they will bounce back.
“Babawi kami.”
