AFTER scoring 40 points or more twice this conference, Manny Harris showed his versatility by putting together a triple double in NLEX’s victory over Rain or Shine in the PBA Governors’ Cup on Wednesday.
Harris tallied 29 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists in an all-around game in a lopsided 111-91 win over the Elastopainters that enabled the Road Warriors to gain a share of the lead with TNT on 7-1 win-loss records.
Brought in as a replacement to Olu Ashaolu despite the team’s good record, Harris has shown that he can score when he wants to. But NLEX coach Yeng Guiao is actually discouraging his import from scoring that many in the next matches.
“Our risk was we would either look stupid or we would look genius. So far, genius pa naman. Pero baka malapit na. Teams are going to scout him, teams are going to try to defend him," Guiao said of his prized import.
"The good thing about Manny is nag-uusap kami. Sinasabi ko sa kanya, 'Yung first two games niya were 45 and 40 points. Sabi ko, you don’t need to score that many points for us to win.'"
Instead, Guiao is encouraging Harris to involve his teammates.
“If you facilitate, if you involve the others, we can still win and we can still spread out our offense. Naiintindihan niya ‘yun. ‘Yung 40, 40-plus points every game, that’s not sustainable. You can’t do that every game. You cannot sustain that and we know we have to rely still on the team, move the ball around, and find open people in terms of offense,” said Guiao.
Guiao’s words didn't fall on deaf ears as NLEX had 28 assists against Rain or Shine - the most for the team this conference.
“He told me that after the first game, letting me know that it’s a good game but I don’t have to score 40 every game. Like I said, I just tried to do whatever to help the team win. I saw the way they were playing defense on me, meaning the other guys were open. I just try to get them the ball,” Harris said.
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