KALEB Wesson embraces the hostile territory that comes with facing Barangay Ginebra as Phoenix tries to start a winning streak in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup on Friday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
After three straight losses to start the midseason tournament, the Fuel Masters finally barged into the win column after a 111-97 decision of NLEX last Saturday and are hoping to build on those gains.
But they’re facing the league's most popular team, which is also gaining steam with back-to-back wins after starting the tournament with an uncharacteristic 22-point loss to Rain or Shine.
Wesson lives for these types of games as the Fuel Masters take on the Gin Kings at 5:45 p.m. after the Blackwater-Terrafirma match at 3 o’clock.
Kaleb Wesson on Ginebra
“I don’t see those things as pressure,” the 23-year-old Phoenx import said. “At the end of the day, it’s basketball. It is my livelihood, but it is a game. There’s a lot of other things in life that have more pressure than basketball.”
“You go into an environment like that, you got to love those games where you’re kind of the villain. That’s kind of what we are,” the Ohio State product added.
Wesson has been a monster on the boards, leading the tournament in rebounds at 20 per game on top of averages of 20.3 points on 41-percent shooting, 1.8 triples, 3.8 assists, two blocks, and 1.8 steals in 43.2 minutes in four games.

But the 6-foot-10 center is eager to work on minimizing his 4.8 turnovers – numbers that factored in their three-game losing streak.
“I attribute it a lot to that as far as being the guy who plays the most minutes,” Wesson said. “I would either lead the team in turnovers or be a part of more than half. Any team when one of your better players is turning the ball over that much is not going to succeed.”
“So I kinda put that on my shoulders as far as being able to control the pace of the game and control my turnovers,” he added.
While matching up with Ginebra local twin towers Japeth Aguilar and Christian Standhardinger, Wesson knows the Gin Kings’ offense will still revolve around Justin Brownlee, who is coming off a 46-point explosion against Bay Area.
“Great player. You can see he’s a three-level scorer,” Wesson said of the resident Ginebra import. “He can get to the rim, he can shoot pullup jump shots. He can hit the open three…If you give him an open look, he’s probably going to hit it.”
“If you give him multiple open looks at a time, it just turns into a domino effect where he’s hot and gets his team hot, and now you have to help and make sure he doesn’t get an open shot and able to pass the ball. So being able to kick out to his teammates and they’ll be the ones with open shots is a big thing.”
While they don’t have an elite scorer of an import like Brownlee, Fuel masters coach Topex Robinson believes Wesson remains the right fit for the squad moving forward.
“When we’re looking for an import, we’re looking at a different lens,” Robinson said. “Like the norm is, we’re not looking for somebody who’s going to score 50 points. But we’re looking for somebody who’s going to be our wall defensively, somebody who could really talk.”
“And more than that, and somebody who has great character. And Kaleb just gives us that thing we’re looking for.”
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