SAMUEL Deguara vowed to stay around longer in Game Two after being saddled with foul trouble in the series opener against San Miguel Alab Pilipinas in the Asean Basketball League (ABL) Finals.
The 7-foot-5 Maltese-Italian Mono Vampire import had 21 points, 11 rebounds, and four blocks but played no more than 19 minutes as he battled foul troubles throughout the match.
The man mountain fouled out late in the fourth quarter and was already on the bench when Alab Pilipinas put away a 143-130 win at the start of the best-of-five championship series.
“We missed Sam in overtime and they dominated in overtime,” said Mono Vampire coach Douglas Marty.
Deguara had a simple message when asked what adjustments he will do for Game Two.
“Less fouls,” said the soft-spoken Deguara.
“It’s a problem (foul trouble). We have to fix it,” Deguara added.
Despite his foul issues, the Mono Vampire coach said he saw positives in the play of Deguara, who he expects to be a handful for Alab in Game Two.
“Sam is an anchor on both ends for us. He showed a lot of good things in this game. He is going to be a key for the next game. I saw a lot of positives from Sam. He is a handful for teams when he is in that key,” said Marty.
“We played our hearts out. So proud of the team. We have to improve though to get a win next game. They (Alab) are a heck of a team. Give them credit,” he added.
Deguara seconded Marty’s statements.
“We did a good job but we need to bounce back and do a better job,” said Deguara.
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