It had been exactly two months and two days since Raymar Jose last played competitive basketball on Thursday night. Though huffing and puffing, the 23-year-old was just happy to get back and play on Philippine soil.
“Sarap. Sarap makapaglaro ulit. Tagal na rin e,” shared a visibly tired Jose after making his Cignal HD Hawkeyes debut.
The 6-foot-4 bruiser did not miss a beat, posting 19 points on a 60 percent shooting clip to go along with 14 rebounds. And he did it even if he had lost at least 20 pounds coming from his stint with the Kaohsiung Truth.
“Laki ng pinayat ko sa Taiwan. Diet kami run e,” the native of Pontevedra, Negros Occidental quipped.
But the truth of the matter is that Jose was forced to shed weight as he played both the three and four spot for the Kaohsiung.
“Ang laki ng pinayat ko kumpara nung nasa FEU pa ko,” Jose, who averaged 12.0 points and 6.5 rebounds during his ABL stint, furthered.
And just like his team Cignal, a team that fell to an 84-85 loss to Flying V, he vows to bounce back as the season progresses.
“Sayang lang natalo pero makakabawi naman kami,” the one-time UAAP champion said.
“Try ko rin ibalik yung lapad ko.”
