More than the 50 points he made on Wednesday, Eugene Phelps himself was a striking figure inside the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The 6-foot-5 Phoenix Fuel Masters import stood out not just because of his hulking physique, but with the wide headband he wore for the majority of their game versus Columbian Dyip – Phelps wore a Gucci headband worth USD540.
And for Phelps, it might have brought him and the team some luck.
Phelps, now in his fifth PBA conference, collected 50 points, 17 rebounds, and eight blocks like it was nothing, to lead the Fuel Masters past the Dyip, 113-107, and successfully begin their 2018 Governors’ Cup campaign.
“The Gucci band helped me out, so yeah.
“That’s my drip – drip means swag. So my drip is hella high right now. I saw it, I bought it,” beamed the 28-year-old forward, who now has three 50-point opening games under his belt.
Aside from his headband, Phelps also did some sort of a stunt with his free throws. In the second and third quarters, the American veered away from the traditional free throw form by shooting with just his right hand.
“Last conference I wasn’t shooting too good at the free throw line so I switched it up. In practice it was going pretty good and in preseason games it was falling but this game it wasn’t,” said Phelps, who shot 10-of-22 from the line.
“So I’ll probably switch it back to two hands.”
Still, Phelps and the rest of the Fuel Masters had one great evening. With the victory over the gritty Dyip, and with the way Calvin Abueva played, Phelps is confident in Phoenix’s chances in the season-ending conference.
“We just gotta play our game. I feel like we can probably go to the semis, maybe even the Finals. We’ll see how it goes.”
