CLINT Escamis knows that changes are in order after yet another game where he failed to leave a mark offensively for Mapua.
Escamis was held without a single field goal in the Cardinals' 79-70 loss to the San Beda Red Lions on Friday at the Playtime Filoil Center in San Juan as the defending champions dropped to 3-2 in the early goings of the NCAA Season 101.
READ: San Beda bares fangs in NCAA S101 with takedown of Mapua
The former league MVP’s struggles has been clear as day, as aside from his 29 point explosion against Arellano, he’s been held to single-digits in all of their games for Season 101.
Escamis acknowledges that fact, while attributing his struggles to him deferring to his teammates a lot early on this season.
“Sa gameplan namin, marami kaming offensive threats ngayon lalo na sobrang deep ng bench namin. Gusto ko talaga sila i-involve and give them all the confidence in the world,” he said.
“Kinausap naman ako nila coach, andun parin yung kailangan ko pumuntos. Ngayon ang off ko lang talaga nung recent games ko, kailangan ko talaga i-work on yun, improve on practice next game bawi talaga,” he added.
While that approach sort of worked after their initial run in Group A, it was evident in their loss to the Red Lions that they’re gonna need him to be more aggressive – especially after that flat start when San Beda erected a 19-point lead in the first half.
In the past two games, Escamis has only taken a combined 11 shots -- unacceptable numbers for a player in his caliber.
“If I’m off, tinatry ko talaga i-facilitate yung teammates ko, get them involved. Kung mainit naman ako, I try to find my shots” he said.
“Siguro ngayon, kailangan ko talaga bumawi sa performance ko ngayon at sa mga previous games. Bounce back nalang talaga.”
With that in mind, expect Escamis to start looking for his shots more come the next game especially as they take on the resurgent Letran Knights on Tuesday.
“Of course, more aggressive ako sa next game,” Escamis said.
“Pero not just in scoring, in defense, in terms of my whole game kailangan ko maging aggressive talaga. Kailangan magkaron ng statement na [andito parin ako] talaga.”
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