Rey Nambatac is making things personal in the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup after coming off easily his worst conference since becoming part of TNT.
The lefty guard starred in their 106-103 escape versus Macau for a successful debut on Sunday, and his solid performance to the tune of 23 points was all part of his plan to begin this redemption tour of sorts on a strong note.
“To be honest, ‘yung last conference ko was a wakeup call; an eye-opener na rin para sa akin,” he said after the match at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
Nambatac was so far from the usual during the Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup that he only finished with dismal averages of 5.5 points, 2.5 assists, and 2.0 rebounds in the 27 games he saw action in the midseason competition.
He was hardly a factor in their Finals series versus Ginebra, which left fans and observers alike confused, to say the least, considering that he was the PBA Press Corps Finals MVP in last season’s edition of the same tournament.
Making matters worse was that the former Letran Knights star became heavily involved with rumors of being traded to Titan Ultra for Joshua Munzon.
(C) PBA Images
“I’ve been playing in the PBA for eight years, and ‘yun ‘yung pinaka-worst performance in a conference ko, so far,” reflected the former seventh pick.
“Sabi ko, hindi puwedeng ganun. So I need to step up and ibalik ko ‘yung usual na laro ko, and dito mag-i-start ‘yun sa conference na ‘to.”
He did get off to a good start, finishing with that many points to help lead the defending champions weather the Giant Pandas’ rally from 15 down.
Nambatac, all in all, shot 8-of-15 from the field and also collected three rebounds, six assists, a steal, and a block in 31 minutes of action.
Moving ahead into the season-ending meet, it’s all about trying to be as consistent as he can be for a team that’s hoping to keep the tilt in its hands.
“Good thing, good start, yung ginawa ko,” exhaled the two-time league champion.
“Sabi nga ni Coach Chot [Reyes], hopefully magtuloy-tuloy na. And the key in this conference for me is to be more consistent.”
