GEO Chiu had his hands full in Terrafirma’s penultimate game of the conference as he had the unenviable task of battling June Mar Fajardo and Bennie Boatwright in their match against San Miguel on Wednesday.
Chiu’s Dyip saw the end of the road after dropping a 126-110 loss to the Beermen, who had Boatwright compiling 33 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists and Fajardo 30 points and 16 rebounds as they took turns blasting a frontline led by the young Chiu.
READ: San Miguel takes out Terrafirma, completes PBA playoffs cast
Chiu was properly warned.
“Yung coaches namin before pa nung start nung game, sinabihan na kaming mga bigs mabigat yung tasks, sila kuya June Mar, sila Bennie Boatwright, tapos sila kuya Mo [Tautuaa] pa. Kami we had to prepare ourselves mentally, pero ayun, talo,” Chiu said.
The 2025 PBA Draft top overall pick got a taste of guarding the nine-time PBA MVP and , as expected, was out of words in describing the gentle giant from Cebu.
“Nakita natin sa game na yun sobrang daming pwedeng matutunan sa kanya. He’s a very nice guy,” he said.
“Siya mas post player siya, so if I can work on my post game, that would help me lalo na sa next conference, or all-Filipino na mas locals na yung mga nakabantay. I’ll watch the clip and hopefully may makuha ako.”
Chiu had himself a solid night all in all – finishing with another double-double of 12 points, on 5/6 shooting, 16 rebounds and two blocks. It was his second straight double-double after starting the conference flat with his shot, hitting below 40 percent of his baskets entering the final stretch of the tournament
The former Ateneo big man’s improving performance around the rim is proof that he’s starting to get his confidence now.
“Medyo shaky [nung simula], ngayon medyo mas may confidence na po. Ayun hopefully matuloy tuloy ko lang to and magawa namin yung goal namin makatulong sa Terrafirma maka-playoffs,” he said.
“Yung mga teammates ko tuloy tuloy yung kumpyansa sakin. Gusto lang ako tulungan talaga ng team namin, so ako I just have to give back sa tiwala lang nila. I’m just happy na if di ako effectivve sa pag sscore at least I can get rebounds for the team.”
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