Even if the TNT Katropa handed the San Miguel Beermen their first loss, Charles Rhodes made sure that he got the last laugh.
With June Mar Fajardo out serving national team duties, Rhodes carried the load for the San Miguel Beermen. But standing in his way was Donte Greene of the TNT Katropa.
And with the San Miguel Beermen down nine entering the final frame, the 31-year-old Rhodes lit it up in the final frame as he scored 17 of his 43 points in the last 12 minutes of the game.
However, it was TNT who came out on top, handing San Miguel their first loss, 112-103.
“It’s definitely a reality check and we just got to go back to the drawing board and start back over. We were a little rusty,” Rhodes said as the Beermen had a 12-day break prior to this game.
But when things got heated, the two reinforcements were seen talking trash each other after each bucket they made. And for the Galveston, Texas native, he was able to score 43 points on a 62.07 percent clip because Greene was afraid to guard him.
“Yes, it’s a duel but he’s scared to guard me though,” Rhodes, who was averaging 23.2 points on 63.8 percent shooting prior to the game, remarked about the duel.
“I guard him but he won’t guard me,” he declared as he tallied two steals and two blocks but committed five fouls.
“Don’t talk trash to me if he won’t guard me. Been telling him the whole game, ‘guard me, guard me.'”
Moreover, according to the 6-foot-8 big man, Greene was only able to score 41 points and grab 21 rebounds due to his playing 43 minutes in the game.
“I played more minutes, this is the most minutes I played so I was really fatigued,” explained Rhodes, who had been logging in just 29.6 minutes prior to this contest.
“He kept sitting back, he won’t guard me and that’s why he’s getting all those points cause he was fresh.”
And Rhodes hopes that they can get another crack at Greene and the Katropa during the playoffs.
“I hope we meet them in the playoffs, finals, semifinals or something. I want to play them again for sure. We’ll have my man [June Mar Fajardo] back and we’ll have Matt [Ganuelas Rosser] so it will be great,” Rhodes declared.
“I definitely want them again.”
