ANTIPOLO – Norman Black was all smiles and couldn’t hide his excitement upon seeing Reynel Hugnatan enter the press room for the postgame press conference where the best player of the game decided by the television panel is now joined by the winning head coach.
The 43-year-old Hugnatan had an amazing night for Meralco to open the PBA Season 47, scoring 10 of his 17 points in the third quarter to contribute to the Bolts’ come-from-behind 109-98 win over Phoenix Super LPG on Saturday.
For Black, Hugnatan’s performance is a welcome sight for Philippine basketball.
Black on Reynel Hugnatan, Arwind Santos
“I’m just happy for him,” said Black of Hugnatan, who finished with 6-of-10 from the field including a 3-of-5 clip from behind the arc. “To see him and Arwind Santos go out there and play the way they are playing is just fantastic for basketball.”
Santos turned 41 on Friday and was coming off a 46th season where he was part of the Mythical First Team and the All-Defensive Team.
Hugnatan ignited the Bolts’ comeback after trailing, 77-61, in the third quarter, draining two three-pointers in that stretch to enter the final period only down by four, 75-79.
The momentum totally shifted from there, with Hugnatan contributing seven more points including a three that mounted the lead to 104-92 entering the three-minute mark of the contest.
It was the first time Hugnatan played significantly in a long while. The Meralco veteran played for 12 games in the Governors’ Cup but was only averaging 6.6 minutes per contest.
Like in previous conferences, Hugnatan said he never changed his routine in preparation for the time when his number gets called.
“Discipline,” said Hugnatan. “Kumbaga kung ano routine ko dati, stay pa rin, Kahit hindi nila ako pinapasok, always ready lang. Every practice, same pa rin ginagawa ko every day. You’ll never know kung kailan ka tatawagin.”
Black said he decided to put in Hugnatan as the other bigs of Meralco weren’t playing particularly well during the third period.
The Meralco coach said Hugnatan almost always never fails when his number is called.
“I had pretty much a rotation that I wanted to use in the game today. I thought some of my other bigs didn’t really flow very well with the team. I decided to put Reynel in. I’ve been doing it for years.”
“I know he will never hesitate to score. He will always shoot the three-point shot. He will always post up guys and he has a lot of confidence at age 43,” said Black.
Hugnatan said he also would not have done his breakout performance if not for his coaches and teammates.
“Credit to my teammates na naniwala pa rin sila sa akin. The time na open ako, of course, coach always tells me to take the shot. Buti pumapasok kaya nag-stay siguro ako,” said Hugnatan.
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