Shawn Umali has been one of the revelations for Lyceum of the Philippines University.
The beefy 6-foot-3 bruiser out of Letran High has been putting up numbers of 7.36 points and 5.91 rebounds so far in the season.
But what surprised Pirates head coach Gilbert Malabanan is his stroke from deep.
“Nung sa juniors pa siya naglalaro may three points talaga yan si Umali. Siguro binabalik niya lang. Ano naman yon e, kapal lang ng mukha yon. Kita mo pag nakakashoot ngumingiti,” quipped Malabanan as Umali is shooting 33.3-percent from deep so far this season.
“Pero that’s the good thing, very helpful yung ganun sa kaniya. Kasi lalabasan talaga siya ng depensa pag talagang nagcoconnect.”
Against Emilio Aguinaldo College, Umali went 2-of-3 from deep, finishing the game with seven points and six rebounds.
And Umali has always been confident with his stroke.
“Totoo naman eh. Ayun nga, sabi ko nga kanina, shot clock winding down na. Saka libre naman eh kaya tinake ko na yung pagkakataon na yon,” gushed the 23-year-old undersized big after their 79-73 win against the Generals.
Another thing standing out for Umali is his block rate.
As of publishing, he is currently tops in the league in rejections at 1.8 per game.
Not too shabby right?
But for Umali, he needs to man up for the Pirates on the defensive end as they have a thin frontline.
It’s just him, Omar Larupay, and young Genesis Aviles.
“Yung sa number one ako sa blocks, ayun nga nagkakaron ako ng chance na makatulong sa team ko,” the Tondo-bred big man said.
“Pag naiiwan sila, nandun ako. Kasi yun naman talaga yung gusto ni Coach Gilbert eh, pag naiwan yung kasama namin, kami yung number one na tutulong — yung mga big guy.”
Yes, he is just seizing the moment givne to him.
“Tama naman yon, kulang kami sa big guys, parang kumbaga undersized kami. Ako, si Omar Larupay. Si Genesis kailangan talagang mag-improve pa kasi siya yung pinakamalaki namin.”
