IT may be easy for people who aren’t too familiar with Deo Cuajao’s game to be turned off by the quality of shots that he’s getting for himself.
With his shots mostly coming off a fake, off the dribble – or both – with usually a hand or two in his face, it’s easy for people to judge his shot selection as ‘terrible’ with conventional basketball knowledge dictating that there are always better shots even for shooters like him.
But it’s only a bad shot if it isn’t going in right? And Cuajao has been hitting a lot of those lately.
READ: Resurgent Letran hands Perpetual its first loss in NCAA S101
The veteran sharpshooter drained four tightly contested shots in the second half of Letran’s conquest of the erstwhile unbeaten Perpetual, with those baskets halting the momentum of the Altas enrout to the Knights' 63-56 win on Wednesday at the Playtime Filoil Center.
“Pag nagru-run sila, kumbaga may momentum na kailangan namin i-stop e. Kaya pag na-shoot ko to pwedeng matigil yung momentum nila hindi sila makahabol sa amin,” Cuajao said.
Cuajao always had that confidence and his head coach Allen Ricardo has been giving him the green light to take those kinds of shots, mainly because of how hard he works for it during practices.
“Si Deo before and after the practice talagang pinapractice niya talaga yun. Hindi ako nagtataka bakit na-shoo-shoot niya yun pero sabi ko nga sa kanya tira mo pag may tao,” Ricardo said in jest when asked about Cuajao’s shooting.
“Kidding aside, talagang tinatrabaho niya yan. Diyan ako bilib sa bata na yan. Yung pageextra, hindi lahat ng pagkakataon makukuha mo yan [sa player]. Talagang tira niya talaga yun.”
Jimboy Estrada, his longtime running mate in Letran, echoed the same sentiments.
Needing a basket with the Altas hot on their heels, Estrada used Cuajao as a release after getting trapped under the basket and the pride of Midsayap, North Cotabato did what he does best – make another contested three with the shot-clock winding down to stop the Altas’ momentum for good.
“Si Deo, galaw na niya talaga yun e. Lagi niyang ineextra sa practice kaya ganun ang nangyayari sa game,” Estrada said. “Idol talaga yan.”
Shooters shoot
The win was Letran’s second straight after a horrid start to the season where they lost the first three.
It’s no co-incidence that the Knights’ winning run came right when Cuajao rediscovered his touch from the outside.
After missing their season-opening loss to JRU due to sickness, Cuajao was stifled in the losses against San Beda and St. Benilde – combining to shoot just one-of-12 in those games.
In Letran’s two wins, Cuajao has made 10-of-21 shots from downtown for an impressive 47.6 percent – even more impressive considering that most of those shots are contested.
The 23-year-old, however, said that his focus wasn’t even on his outside sniping.
“As a senior kasi kailangan maging vocal sa loob. Iniisip ko nalang kahit di ako makascore, akala ko nga kanina di ako maka-score e, basta ma-stop ko lang yung highest scorer sa kabila,” Cuajao said after posting only two points to start the second half.
“Yun na ang tulong sa team ko. Salamat parin sa panginoon na binigyan ako ng kumpyansa na ganun.”
The D in 3-and-D stands for 'Deo'
Also in those two wins, Cuajao has taken the challenge of guarding the opposing teams’ best players – including the brilliant Patrick Sleat who still finished with 16 points but had to labor for his each and every basket.
“Iniisip ko nalang kanina kasi depensa muna e. Kasi ang lakas nila e lalo na si Sleat. Sabi ni coach kailangan natin ma-stop si Sleat, sila Gojo Cruz, sila Boral kasi top one sila kailangan natin sila matalo. Talagang big boost sa kumpyansa namin pag natalo namin sila,” Cuajao said.
He wasn’t only doing extra on the offensive end – he shared how he spent a whole lot of time trying to study the transferee out of FEU on the defensive end.
“Tatlong araw kaming nag-prepare sa kanila. Imbis na patulog na ko, tinitignan ko parin yung mga video niya e, mga highlights niya,” he shared.
But whether he’s making it rain from downtown, or stifling players on defense, the most important thing is that the Knights are now starting to get that winning identity back.
“Sinabi ko sa kanila na ngayon alam na natin kung gano tayo kalakas, gaano namin kayang magcompete sa highest level basta may tiwala sa isa’t isa.”
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