IT’S not the kind of reception John Fields expected in his return stint in the PBA.
Especially now that he’s with a champion franchise such as Purefoods.
A 23-point rout at the hands of Alaska greeted Fields in his Commissioner’s Cup comeback on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The 6-foot-9 Fields admitted disappointment after going 4-of-11 from the field to finish with 12 points and just six rebounds in his Magnolia debut.
“I’m disappointed with the loss, I’m disappointed with the way I played,” said the 30-year-old Fields, who is coming fresh from the Asean Basketball League (ABL) where he steered the Singapore Slingers to a runner-up finish behind CLS Knights Indonesia.
Incidentally, Fields’ first-ever game on local soil with Columbian Dyip last year was also against Alaska, which dealt them a 31-point beating despite the import's 39-point, 16-rebound effort.
“They got me two years in a row coming in and beat me by a life. And it’s not what I want,” said Fields.
It didn’t help that the import suffered a sprain in practice two days before the Hotshots played their first game since finishing runner-up to San Miguel Beer in the Philippine Cup.
But Fields isn’t about to make excuses.
“We got some more games coming up so we’ll come out better,” he said.
“It’s team chemistry and they came from a long conference (Philippine Cup). So all that time, Alaska already had five games in the bag, So after that, once we get our speed and rhythm, we’ll be fine.”
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