RAIN or Shine’s rotating spotlight this time shone on rookie Christian Manaytay, and the University of Santo Tomas product took the ball and ran away with it.
Manaytay nearly played 25 minutes in the Elasto Painters’ 142-131 win over Titan Ultra, finishing with a complete line of 18 points on a near-perfect 8/9 shooting, eight rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block in the win.
The 6-foot-5 forward didn’t do that in garbage time either. He scored eight points in Rain or Shine’s massive third quarter where his team broke the game wide open for good.
READ: ROS heads to playoffs on winning note after romp over Titan Ultra
“Wala naman akong ginawang special. We just ran our system, yung run and gun. Usually ang ginagawa namin kasi ngayon, nagri-rim run kaming mga bigs so that we get our guards open outside,” Manaytay explained.
“At the same time, kung ma-open sila ma-libre sila pag yung Titan nag-close out, ma-open kami sa loob. Ginawa lang namin yung system namin. Nag-bunga na parati lang akong open.”
Manaytay is part of another promising batch of RoS rookies alongside Joshua David, Deo Cuajao and the injured Jun Roque.
And best believe, coach Yeng Guiao always had plans for their 10th overall pick in the recent draft.
“Noon ko pa sinasabi na yung mga minutes ni Gabe Norwood na bakante niya mapupunta kay Christian,” Guiao bared.
“Up to now actually, siguro we’re still in the stage of experimentation. We’re trying to rotate three guys dun sa position niya. Nagpapalitan sila nila Caelan [Tiongson], minsan sila Santi [Santillan] at the small forward position.”
The fiery coach is delighted to see that not only was he able to give extra minutes to his young guys, they responded in the best way they could have.
“Sinamantala namin itong larong to, and even the previous games to give them extra minutes for two purposes – una yung kumpyansa nila, yung feel nila sa laro and at the same time, napapahinga namin yung mga key players namin,” he said.
“At least na-accomplish namin yun. Nassave namin yung key players namin from burnout and at the same time yung mga presko pa na players namin nag-kakaexperience naman.”
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
