Mark Nonoy’s last game in a UST Tiger Cubs uniform was last February 10, when his side clobbered De La Salle-Zobel Junior Archers by a whopping 21 points in the final day of the UAAP Juniors’ elimination round.
Nonoy won’t be going away from España, though, as he has expressed his full commitment to UST. So eight days after his final Juniors game, he was already with the Growling Tigers. He even saw action in the 2019 PBA D-League.
And it looks like the 18-year-old Negrense needs no ‘breaking in’ for the seniors’ squad.
The 5-foot-8 floor general produced 15 points, six rebounds, four assists, and a steal in nearly 22 minutes off the bench to help the Growling Tigers’ 94-70 maul the Batangas-EAC Generals, Monday, at the newly-built Paco Arena in Manila.
“He played well,” lauded UST head coach Aldin Ayo. “Konti lang adjustment dahil isang sistema ang juniors at seniors.
“Kapag pinasok sa seniors, in terms of system… Dahil parehas na lang, ‘di na ganoon maninibago ang bata.”
Meanwhile, Nonoy admitted that he felt a bit nervous in the early goings of his seniors’ debut. But all of that went out the window since he followed the instructions of the decorated bench strategist – which were simply to stick to their system.
“Kinakabahan din pero sabi samin ni coach Aldin, kapag kinabahan ka, sumandal ka lang sa sistema hanggang sa mawala na yung jitters sa katawan mo, makuha mo na yung kumpiyansa mo sa loob ng court.”
Now, with his first game as a Growling Tiger in the books, Nonoy looks to grow.
“Yung mga mali ko na kailangan ko daw iimprove yung sa depensa. Kasi grabe talaga yung ano ni coach Aldin sa depensa… Tsaka yung mga maliliit na bagay, kasi dun makakabuo sa maliliit na bagay.”
