During the second quarter of Game Six of the Magnolia-NLEX semifinals series, Jio Jalalon suffered a bloody nose after receiving a hard foul courtesy of JR Quinahan — a player who is nine inches taller than him. The 5-foot-9 floor general had to be taken out of the game.
He was down but he was not out.
Jalalon responded with the best way he can as he played like a house on fire during the second half. He slashed through the lanes, scored buckets, and dished out dimes while guarding NLEX ace Kiefer Ravena. Safe to say, he just shrugged off the pain, motivated by the goal at hand.
“Pagkatapos nung tinamaan ako, nag-focus na lang ako sa game kasi kailangan namin to eh. Mahirap na pag di namin nakuha to, baka kami pa yung ma-pressure pagdating sa Game Seven,” recalled Jalalon, whose 11 points, 13 assists, and two steals helped the Hotshots knock off the Road Warriors, 96-89.
“Nakuha namin yung Game Six, nagpapasalamat kami kay Lord kasi binigyan niya kami ng blessings.”
His Game Six performance and how he bounced back from a hard hit was reminiscent of how Mark Barrocca willed himself during his seven-year stay with the franchise.
During his younger years, Barroca had suffered cuts and sprains but simply played through it, helping give the Purefoods franchise five championships.
Seeing Jalalon pay his dues made Barroca look back on how he was a hungry young buck before.
“Unang una si Jio is, hindi lang siya sa opensa lang. All-around player e,” the 5-foot-10 guard beamed about Jalalon, who averaged 9.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 6.2 assists, and 1.6 steals in the series. “Proud ako na kasama ko siya sa team namin. Grabe, nakikita ko sa kanya yung dati na pag pasok ng PBA, sobrang aggressive sa depensa, nandiyan lagi kung saan, kukuha ng rebound, masasaktan, laban pa rin.
“Sobrang proud ako na teammate ko siya.”
“Sobrang nagpapasalamat ako kila kuya Mark, kasi pagdating sa practice sila yung mga teacher ko eh, tinuturuan nila ako. Ang laki ng tulong nila sa akin,” Jalalon shared about Barroca, on the other hand.
For his part, Jalalon is just grateful that he is getting a chance to share backcourt duties with a prime Barroca.
“Sobrang sarap, kasi alam mo yung pareho kayo ng laro? Nakukuha ko kaagad yung bilisan, dun namin nakukuha yung offense namin eh, sa defense namin,” the native of Cagayan de Oro expressed.
“Lalo na pag kasama ko si kuya Mark, ang dali lang talaga ng basketball.”
