FOR a guy who’s averaging close to 10 rebounds per game this conference, it’s surprising that Terrafirma’s top overall pick in Geo Chiu is only getting his first career double-double now.
The effort on the glass and the defensive end is certainly there for Chiu, but his finishing certainly needs a whole lot of improving.
On Saturday, Chiu finally got himself going offensively – finishing with 12 points to go along his 11 boards as the Dyip ended a six-game slide, 102-84 at the Macau Black Knight’s expense.
READ: Terrafirma arrests skid at Macau's expense, keeps QFs hope alive
“Sobrang saya nakalagpas din ako ng nine points,” Chiu said after entering the game averaging just 5.8 points per game on 37.2 percent shooting from the field – horrendous percentages for a big man.
But Chiu is manning up, knowing that there's plenty of work to do -- work that he's been certainly doing, evident in this performance against the Black Knights.
“I think it just shows na there’s so much work to do. Kasi yung mga coaches ko yung mga teammates ko binibigyan naman nila ako ng kumpyansa e,” he added. “Siguro tuloy tuloy ko lang yung work, may pag-asa [mag-bunga] kumbaga I’m just gonna continue working at sana mag-tuloy tuloy.”
In this game, Chiu looked more comfortable and composed as he made six of his nine shots while adding two assists in nearly 32 minutes of action.
Chiu breaking his slump came just in time for the Dyip who are currently fighting for survival in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup after dropping six consecutive games.
Not only is the 6’9 big trying to navigate his own struggles – he’s also getting used to playing through in a situation where success isn’t as expected as compared to his time with Ateneo and the Abra Weavers in the MPBL.
But the soft-spoken big man from Ateneo isn’t too worried about it, instead he’s using this opportunity for his own growth.
“Siguro you just have to find beauty in your struggles so dito sa team namin, sobrang daming potential. Dito may tyansa ako na mas mag grow pa lalo kasi given na kailangan namin magtulungan talaga e,” he said.
“Different scenario [ito]. For me naman it’s a different challenge, siguro ano lang you just have to find the beauty in that struggle.”
Regardless of what happens, Chiu knows that they’ve got something going on here in Terrafirma.
“Yung coaches namin they’ve been telling us to na may chance pa kami mag playoffs, every game talaga is do-or-die for us. We just want to make the most of itong conference na’to because sayang yung team namin e diba maayos yung chemistry and everything,” he said.
“For us naman nakita namin may chance kami. Sana ma-maintain namin to hanggang sa last two games namin and hopefully maka-playoffs.”
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