It’s no secret that the now-retired Chris Tiu’s minutes are being spread out over the young guards of the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters. And sophomore cager Rey Nambatac is one of the few reaping the benefits.
“Siyempre malaking kawalan din si Chris Tiu, yun nga kami yung mga pumuno dun,” said Nambatac, as he and fellow guards like Maverick Ahanmisi have been filling in well so far.
“Yung minutes ni Chris Tiu naghati na kami dun.”
In the first four games of the 2019 PBA Philippine Cup, the combo guard out of Letran averaged 7.4 points and 3.4 rebounds. And he continued to provide on Friday evening, when the Elasto Painters faced the NorthPort Batang Pier.
The 6-foot native of Cagayan de Oro finished with 11 points – including three free throws in Rain or Shine’s finishing 10-0 run – and four rebounds. His performance helped the Elasto Painters rack up their third straight win with a 107-100 come-from-behind victory.
For the one-time NCAA champion, he’s glad that his preparations last season for Tiu’s departure are paying dividends.
“Actually, last year pinaghahandaan ko na yun eh, kasi anytime soon puwede ako magkaroon ng mahabang minutes or madadagdagan ng konti yung minuto. Ito nangyari ngayon, nagkakatugma dun sa pinaghahandaan ko,” shared the seventh overall pick in the 2017 PBA Draft.
“Siyempre mahirap din punan yung ginagawa ni Chris Tiu eh. So ang sa akin lang, dun lang talaga ako mag-stick sa kung ano kulang, and pupunan ko yun sa defense. Kasi yung defense, yun yung bread-and-butter talaga namin.”
Meanwhile, head coach Caloy Garcia – who has coached Nambatac before, both in Letran and in the PBA D-League – seeks more consistency from him.
“He just needs to be consistent. He didn’t play a good first half,” said Garcia, as Nambatac only scored four in the said half.
“But then, na-challenge siguro siya doon sa second half. We were asking guys to step up and he did.”
