GAB Banal missed out on one trophy but is confident he will earn one to offer his father.
The Go for Gold forward admitted feeling down after losing the MVP title to Che’Lu guard Jeff Viernes, but now he turns his focus on winning the Foundation Cup crown with the Scratchers.
“To be honest, I wanted to win that MVP to offer it to my dad, who’s recovering from a heart attack. You know, I just flip the switch trying to focus in the game,” said Banal
Gab’s father Joel Banal suffered a heart attack on Sunday, underwent angioplasty and will require another procedure.
The younger Banal added that his father is slowly recovering.
“He’s okay naman, he’s recovering, he has another procedure next week so keep him in your prayers. Thanks,” he said.
Before that procedure, Banal hopes to claim the D-League Foundation Cup crown with the Go for Gold Scratchers.
The 6-foot-3 winger played his heart out in Game Four, scoring 20 points, pulling down 10 rebounds and making four assists, but that was not enough as the Revellers forced a series decider.
It was a double blow for the night for Banal, but says he believes Jeff Viernes has earned the MVP title.
“Jeff Viernes deserves it. I’m just trying to focus on winning the championship because for me, personally, that’s more important than the MVP.”
“I have a game so I gotta focus but definitely he’s one of my motivations for winning the championship,” he said.
Gab is confident the Scratchers can bounce back and take the title, if they can limit their errors in the finale on Thursday.
“They just wanted it more, it’s about effort, I think 21 offensive rebounds and that’s the smallest things boxing out. Our turnovers, they scored lots of turnover points,” rued Banal referring to Che’lu’s 16 turnover points as many as his team’s miscues.
“Basically, that’s it, that’s pure effort they grabbed so much offensive rebounds and second chance points. If we capitalize on that or we limit it, we have a strong chance of winning.”
“They won so it’s our time to adjust. I know that they have the momentum but you know, we don’t care about momentum anymore. We just wanna win, we’re going back to practice trying to figure things out what went wrong, what went right,” he added.
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