Robbie Herndon had his best game as a pro on Sunday night.
The sophomore forward stepped up for the injured Paul Lee, collecting a career-high 16 points on an excellent 6-of-8 shooting from the field, along with eight rebounds, to set the pace for the Magnolia Hotshots versus the TNT KaTropa.
His efforts were for naught, though, as Magnolia lost steam in overtime, 75-80, spoiling their 2019 PBA Philippine Cup debut. But his work didn’t go unnoticed, especially by Hotshots head coach Chito Victolero.
“Siya yung maganda yung opensa sa amin. Medyo sinalo niya si Paul because hindi ko na magamit si Paul noong second half. Maganda yung step-up game ni Herndon,” praised the reigning Coach of the Year of the Fil-Am guard.
“The shots were falling, so I kept shooting,” Herndon said, on the other hand.
“I just continue to play my game. I know what I’m capable of. I’m still going to play in the team’s system and whatnot, I play to win. Whatever it takes. I let the game naturally come to me.”
Herndon’s scoring display on Sunday was reminiscent of his previous performances in the developmental league, where he had stints with Victoria Sports-MLQU, Wang’s Basketball Couriers, and lastly Marinerong Pilipino Skippers.
“In the D-League, pretty much my only job was to score — 1nd score a lot!
“But here, it’s different. We have a lot of scorers on the team, and this is more of a defensive system. So we focus on defense first and you know, we let the offense come to us,” added the San Francisco State alumnus.
This had been a great way for Herndon to start his second year in the pros. Now, he looks to keep playing consistently to be of help for the Hotshots as the conference – where they are last season’s runners-up – goes along.
“Yeah. If it’s scoring, more scoring. If it’s defense, defense. Just whatever happens, happens.”
