LAPU-LAPU CITY – For Rhenz Abando, it was like the FIBA World Cup all over again.
The Filipino forward said playing in the EASL Final Four for the Anyang Jung Kwan Jang reminded him of his time playing for the national team during last year’s quadrennial meet which the country hosted for the first time in 45 years.
Repeated chants of his name by the huge crowd at the Hoops Dome Friday night was all he needed to be transported back to the past.
World Cup feels for Abando
“When they started out shouting my name, I feel like I was playing in the World Cup again,” said Abando in acknowledging the cheers of the Cebuano fans who supported him in his first game ever in the Queen City of the South.
“That’s the first thing I remembered when I entered (the court).”
Abando was part of the Gilas 12-man unit that saw action in the World Cup in Manila last August, where the team just won once out of its five games and failed to advance in the knockout round, but good enough to earn at least a berth to the qualifier of the Paris Olympics.
His high-flying act and razzle-dazzle plays on the court obviously endeared him to Filipino basketball fans, who showered him with lots of love and cheers when he played his first game back here in the country as part of the Red Boosters.
Abando was fielded in with 2:35 left in the first quarter and Anyang holding a slim three-point lead over Korean Basketball League (KBL) rival Seoul SK Knights.
The former NCAA Rookie-MVP from Letran went on and finished the game with 11 points and three rebounds despite nursing a hurting back, but the Red Boosters came up short and were dethroned by the Knights, 94-79.
“Same time disappointed kasi I’m not healthy,” Abando admitted about his health condition.
But the cheers of the Filipino fans were enough for the 25-year-old native of Santo Tomas, La Union to sooth the pain of losing the game and failing to defend Anyang’s title in the tournament presented by Philippine Airlines, Dusit Thani Mactan Cebu Resort, Titktok as official partners and Anta, McDonald’s, and Spalding as product endorsers.
“Pero more on masaya. Sobrang blessed din kasi they (crowd) support us even though hindi namin nakuha yung win,” said Abando.
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