ANTIPOLO – There was something in Terrafirma that made Juami Tiongson stay with the ballclub despite all the losing over the past few conferences.
Juami Tiongson on why Dyip are a good team
On Saturday, that positive vibe came together with Tiongson leading the Dyip’s stunning victory over Meralco in the PBA Governors’ Cup. Tiongson was one point shy of his career high after tallying 30 points to lift Terrafirma to a 96-88 win.
Tiongson said the win only proved that the Dyip are a competitive team, a reason for him to stay with the squad, even though they have been on the bottom of the standings for several seasons now.
“We have a good team,” said Tiongson, who before the conference signed a new deal with the Dyip.
“’Yung chemistry namin is there and ‘yung brotherhood namin off the court. ‘Yung team namin, walang faction. Everyone gets along. Everyone hangs out with each other in practice. Walang grupo grupo. It’s fun to play with Terrafirma that’s why I re-signed with them.”
Tiongson already had 10 points in the first half, and played consistently the rest of the way. He had 13 points including a three to increase the gap to 17, 86-69, the biggest of the match.
Tiongson deflected the credit as his teammates were looking for him when he was finding his rhythm in the first half.
“Of course, I don’t take credit for myself. It’s always about the team. I think the team really went exclusively looked for me especially when I was making my shots early. Especially sila Kuya Alex (Cabagnot), Jordan (Williams), Eric (Camson), they were really telling me na ‘Hahanapin ka namin.’”
“We wouldn’t have done it without everyone’s total collective effort,” said Tiongson.
The former Ateneo cager also said he kept his focus throughout the game, in contrast to the previous outing against Converge where he had 18 points, but only two in the second half.
“I have to take the blame kasi in the second half, nawala focus ko. I focused on the referees instead of the game. Nawala rin ‘yung aggressiveness ko. Puro ako reklamo. I learned from that in today’s game. I guessed it showed. Ni-lessen ko ‘yung antics and ‘yung mga unnecessary (things),” said Tiongson.
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