CHRIS Hubilla's aggression on the court will always be his biggest asset whereever he goes, but sometimes, it can work against him.
The key for the bruising forward is finding balance, which he did as he powered Jose Rizal University's 84-74 win over Emilio Aguinaldo College on Monday — dropping a season-high 26 points to go along 12 rebounds and three assists.
As he started off the season critical of himself for being a little too aggressive in their opener, Hubilla shared how he lost that edge and aggression in their past couple of games. Fine-tuning it, according to the transferee out of Mapua, was all a matter of finding that middle ground and building good habits in training.
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"Ni-remind lang ako ni coach Nani na sa tuwing aatake ako madiin dapat talaga. Nawala yung aggressiveness ko nung mga huling laro. Pinagisipan ko rin mabuti," he said.
"Tapos sa ensayo wag dapat ako mag-petiks, kasi pag nag-petiks ako sa ensayo, nadadala namin sa game e. Kaya ayun, every practice na papasok ako laging aggressive para sa game na ganito ma-adapt namin."
Hubilla credited his coaches, led by Nani Epondulan, for helping him find that balance and putting his aggression to good use.
It reflected with the way he approached this game.
Majority of Hubilla's attempts came from the paint or short jumpers — opting for the three ball just twice. He also made the line eight times, a testament to how hard he was challenging the Generals' defense.
For Hubilla, having coaches with a long leash for him to make mistakes and discover more from his game, fueled the switch.
"Sa tiwala din ng mga coaches. Bad and good [performance] nasa loob parin ako. Sinusuklian ko kang yung every minute na pinapasok ako ni coach," he continued.
"Kung ano maiaambag ko di lang sa score, maka-rebound ako, yun ang mahalaga sa amin e. Marami din naman scorer sa team namin."
The Heavy Bombers are now riding on a four-game winning run just as Hubilla starts to reestablish his presence within the league's best forwards.
But for him, this is just the beginning. Finishing strong is the only thing that matters.
"Lagi lang kaming nireremind ni coach na wag kami makuntento sa kung anong meron kami. Kasi kung ma-kuntento kami, baka kunin pa ng iba samin," he said
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