BEAU Belga showed both his tough and soft sides on Friday night when he got involved in a heated battle for a rebound with Jamie Malonzo late in Rain or Shine’s 113-107 loss to Barangay Ginebra in the PBA Philippine Cup.
Stepping up after Rain or Shine rookie Keith Datu went down with a knee injury, Belga, in one defensive play in the fourth quarter, grabbed one of his 11 boards when Malonzo mixed it up with him to go for the steal.
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The ROS enforcer tried to secure the ball by swinging his elbow that almost caught Malonzo, before the latter's Ginebra teammate Christian Standhardinger got in the middle in time to separate them.
“Both of us are kumbaga sine-secure yung rebound,” Belga explained. “Syempre kung ako na may bola, they were trying to get it from me, kailangan ko proteksyunan. Pero hindi naman siguro aabot sa magsusuntukan.”
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“It’s part of the game. It’s a heated game. We were trying to survive. They were trying to win their first game, so intensity lang din,” he added.
Asked if he had a conscious effort to tone it down knowing Malonzo is still recovering from a viral restaurant fight that left him with a black eye, Belga answered in the affirmative.
“Alam mo naman yung sitwasyon ni Jamie eh. Wala namang may gusto nung mga ganung klaseng sitwasyon. As much as maiiwasan mo yung mga ganung klase ng trouble, eh iiwasan mo,” Belga said.
“Pero nangyari na yun, so it’s a lesson for Jamie na dadalhin niya habang buhay.”
Belga also has an advice for the Ginebra high-flyer in those kinds of situations.
“Siguro pag may mga ganung klase ng ano, try to protect yourself. Yun lang para sa akin. Kasi hindi mo alam kung ano mangyayari and nakita mo naman sa videos kung ano nangyari, so try to protect lang.”
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