A lot has been changed since CJ Perez left Terrafirma and went to San Miguel.
And Perez saw what transpired right before his very eyes as the Dyip pulled off an upset of the top-seeded Beermen, 106-95, in the PBA Philippine Cup playoffs on Saturday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
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Perez had eight of his 20 points in the final quarter, but it wasn't not enough to turn things around for San Miguel, which now has to go through a sudden-death game against the Dyip on Wednesday for a slot in the best-of-seven semis.
The No. 1 overall pick of the KIA franchise in the 2018 draft, the 30-year-old guard played his first two years in the league donning the Dyip’s green and white jersey, before being traded to San Miguel for two first-round picks, together with the trio of Matt Ganuelas-Rosser, Russel Escoto, and Gelo Alolino.
But Perez saw a huge different with this current version of the Dyip from the team he played for which, unfortunately, never reached the quarterfinals during his short stay with the franchise.
“Sobrang different na ng Terrafirma ngayon. Di na yung tulad dati na kapag kinalaban mo, sabi nga nila matic na. Pero ngayon hindi na,” said Perez when asked how he sees the Terrafirma team of today.
“Hindi mo kailangan i-underestimate sila.”
Unlike before when Perez usually would carry the scoring load for the team, the offense is now spread out on the young core of the Dyip.
Juami Tiongson finished with 29 points, top rookie pick Stephen Holt added 25, Isaac Go chipped in 22, and Javi Gomez De Liano had 15.
Go took care of business early on before Tiongson and Holt took over down the stretch to extend further the Dyip’s first playoffs appearance in eight years.
CJ no longer surprised by Dyip
No wonder Perez was hardly surprised the eight-seeded Dyip managed to forge a playoff on Wednesday against the Beermen, who have now lost two in a row after roaring to a 10-0 record in the eliminations.
“Hindi na ako nagulat kasi they are playing very well,” said Perez of his former team, which beat out the Northport Batang Pier for the eighth and last quarterfinals berth.
In parting, Perez took his hats off to the Dyip.
“They got good players. Halos lahat ng nandun sa lineup maganda ang nilalaro, and they have superstars too, na nandun (sa lineup),” he said.
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