It was hard for Chris Newsome to miss games for Meralco during the tail end of their 2021 Honda PBA Philippine Cup elimination round campaign after being placed under the league’s health and safety protocols.
The Fil-Am guard, along with veteran forward Cliff Hodge and Raymar Jose, was out in the Bolts’ match versus Terrafirma last September 16. And that, according to him, is the first time ever that he did not play for his team.
According to league stats chief Fidel Mangonon III, his absence put an end to the fourth-longest active consecutive games played streak at 210.
“That was the first game I ever missed in my career, so it hurt to sit out,” said the fourth overall pick of the 2015 Draft. “And that was the first time I wasn’t in the locker room ever since I got drafted.
“So it was very hard to accept.”
Newsome went on to miss another game before coming back into the fold the following week. But being out also meant having to regain his rhythm.
“That can really damage your team, the fact that you’re losing guys for two weeks and they’re not practicing,” offered head coach Norman Black, “And then when they get back, they have to get their rhythm back again.”
On Friday, though, in an all-important game for Meralco, Newsome showed that he’s back to his old form — much to his team’s delight.
The 6-foot-2 swingman scored 23 points on a 61-percent clip, alongside nine rebounds and six assists with no turnover to lead the Bolts past the NLEX Road Warriors, 97-86, to complete the semifinal picture.
“It feels good to get my rhythm back,” said Newsome, who equaled his conference-high he set versus Phoenix last July 28.
Ever the team player, though, the 31-year-old gave all the credit to his fellow Bolts for helping him turn in such a performance.
Photo by PBA Images
“It’s about this team,” he said. “This team is what gives me my confidence. The guys have confidence in me, I have confidence in my guys. And if you see with our team, it’s not necessarily about getting the Best Player of the Game. It’s about winning the game. It could be any player on any given night.
“For me it’s just my job to keep everybody mentally prepared, mentally there in the game, mentally present. And that’s what the team did for me today, they saw that I was feeling my shot, I was hitting my shots, so they encouraged me to keep shooting. They encouraged me to keep attacking and be aggressive.
“And so whenever it’s like that, of course, when your team believes in you, there’s nothing left to do but just to go out there and give your best,” he added.
That kind of confidence he has in his teammates is what made him upbeat about their chances despite his and the others’ absence. And such would be one of the things they’ll bank on in the semis versus Magnolia.
“But again, as I said, the great thing about this team is it’s not about one person. You gotta give credit to the guys that were here while I was out during protocol — me and Cliff. They definitely stepped up. And you saw a different dynamic of this team without me,” Newsome said,
“At the same time I have full confidence in my team because again, like I said, our team chemistry and how we talk to each other, how we build each other up, that’s something that we’ve been working on ever since our training camp. And I think whenever you see teams that are like that, of course being in the semifinals, that’s what’s gonna be the difference in a lot of games — how well do you know your team? How well will your teamwork come into play?”
“Because everybody’s gonna be ready for me, everybody’s gonna be ready for Paul Lee, but then it’s the other guys that’s gonna step up,” the Ateneo product added. “This is a team game.”
