KOY Banal faces a tough task of handling a young revamped team, but acknowledges that making his job easier are players willing to do more than what is asked of them.
The coach was all praises for forward Jorey Napoles as Marinerong Pilipino squad scored a big win in its 2018 PBA D-League Foundation Cup debut.
“Yan naman, game in and game out, he’s giving everything. Yan ang perfect example ng all-out effort, si Jorey,” he said.
“Even in practice, hindi nagbabago yung effort niya. And that’s what we wanted him to do for this team, for him to show his teammates how to play the game the right way is,” said the mentor of the 6-foot-4 slotman.
Napoles didn’t let his coach down in the Skippers’ conference opener, leading the team with 25 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks in their big win over AMA Online Education.
But as Banal attested, the former TIP Engineer’s concern is solely on helping the team win, regardless of what his statline says.
“Naglalaro lang ako. Di ko tinitingnan kung ako ang beterano sa team o ano, basta sa akin marunong lang ako makisama,” said Napoles.
As much as the 25-year-old has his sights set on entering the 2018 PBA Draft later this year, his goal remains with Marinerong Pilipino as this rejigged squad comes to this conference with heightened aspirations.
“Kapag ginawa namin yung mga pinapagawa ni coach sa amin sa practice at ma-execute namin yung mga yun sa games, na maglaro kami as a team, tingin ko naman aabot kami sa gusto naming marating,” he said.
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