FOR someone who just played in a gruelling finals series, Cjay Perez sure provided energy to spark Gilas Pilipinas in their send-off game against the Macau Black Bears.
Playing only 11 minutes of action, Perez had a steal and two blocks to go along with his seven points in Gilas Pilipinas’ 103-98 victory over the Black Bears last Monday, just three days after his club team San Miguel clinched the PBA 49th Season Philippine Cup crown at the expense of TNT.
READ: Gilas climbs out of 21-point hole to beat Macau in sendoff match
Perez was the lone Gilas player from the finals series who played on Monday with SMB teammate June Mar Fajardo sidelined with a calf issue and TNT's Calvin Oftana resting due to an ankle injury.
Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone said Perez’s defense, particularly in Macau’s ball carriers, was the spark that led to the national squad outscoring the Black Bears, 33-18 in the third quarter.
“CJ, I thought, was the catalyst there in the third quarter,” Cone said.
“And imagine, he just came off a six-game series, championship series at home, play a long playoff, had no rest, showed up yesterday, and then he comes in and basically wins the game for us there in the third quarter, gave us a chance at least to win," he added.
“So kudos to CJ. I've always felt that CJ is a game changer. That’s why he’s on the team."
A known scorer with the Beermen, Perez said his role with Gilas is on defense.
“Lagi sinasabi ni coach Tim na defense first… Actually, ‘yun naman ‘yung naka-mindset sa akin dito sa Gilas. Play defense, I don’t need to score. Basta, maka-defense ako ng maayos,” said Perez, a three-time PBA Scoring Champion.
Cone added: “He’s the kind of guy to come out and change the whole tempo of the game. Every player we have has a certain role with a certain thing that he adds to what we want as a collective group. And CJ, it is the fact that he can come off the bench and really just change the game at times.”
“That’s (defense) what we’ve constantly talked about since we’ve been together. And that’s why it was so disappointing to go out and give up 63 points in that first half. But as disappointed as we are in that first half, I’m just really proud of the guys for flipping the script. You know, we were night and day in the second half,” Cone added.
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