Sidney Onwubere was visibly sluggish in the first day of the 2017 PBA Draft Combine at the Gatorade Hoops Center. It was uncharacteristic of the athletic forward, and some eyes were on him to see if he would shake it off in the following day.
And Onwubere believes that he was able to perform much better in the second day of activities, Tuesday.
“Today siguro nakabawi ng konti,” opined the Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals star moments after the event.
“I’m happy na maganda nilaro ko [ngayon]. Sabi nga ng coach namin, yan yung Sidney talaga na hinahanap ng coaches.”
Onwubere has back-up to his claims. In the battle for fifth place in the Combine’s mini tournament, the Filipino-Nigerian was playing his usual game, as he made triples and even rose up for a putback slam.
“It’s great,” he said of his experience in the Combine. “Most of the players here are really competitive, so I’m blessed and happy na nakalaro ko sila. One day isa sa mga players dito magiging star sa PBA, so I’m happy na nakalaro ko sila.”
The annual Combine is the avenue for the aspirants to showcase their stuff and hopefully earn the chance of a pick after the so-called locks. And for Onwubere, what he saw was a class so loaded that it has still a lot to offer other than the consensus top picks.
“Maraming magagaling. Yung five dun siguro, kasama yung number one pick, sila na yung top six,” said Onwubere, referring to the Combine’s Mythical Five of Jeron Teng, Kiefer Ravena, Raymar Jose, Robbie Herndon, and Jason Perkins, plus Christian Standhardinger.
“Marami pa ring talent, like, a lot of shooters, a lot of slashers, a lot of great rebounders, so talagang mahigpit yung labanan sa draft this coming Sunday.”
Asked where he sees himself landing come this Sunday at the actual Rookie Draft, Onwubere confessed that he does not mind things such as that at all, that he will simply bring his best to whichever team will draft him.
“First round, second round walang problema basta mabigyan tayo ng opportunity,” he said.
“Any team naman eh, basta pagkatiwalaan lang nila ako. Promise ko ‘di ko sasayangin yung trust na bibigay nila sa’kin.”
