MARK Barroca has found a new role which his team Magnolia will surely find endearing and very thankful for. The veteran point guard who has won six PBA championships in a 14-year career, is now mentor to the team's young recruits.
Barroca, 38, has taken rookies Jerom Lastimosa and Peter Alfaro under his wing as the newbies try to navigate the rough and tumble world of professional basketball, more so now that the team has become a target because of its strong start in the Philippine Cup where it is undefeated in three games.
READ: Clutch Barroca lifts Magnolia past San Miguel in OT thriller
And the three seem to have hit all the right buttons immediately. Credit some of it to their common dialect, which is Visayan, which Barroca said quickly bonded them like brothers. Alfaro came from Zamboanga City like Barroca, while Lastimosa hailed from Dumaguete.
Magnolia has high hopes on the two rookies.
Lastimosa, 26, was the Hotshots’ first round pick at No. 7 in the Season 49 draft last year, while. Alfaro, 25, was picked by Terrafirma in the third round at No. 27, but was unsigned. Magnolia then took its chances on him, and it doesn't seem to regret it.
Barroca said it did not take long for them to understand their common objective.
“Katabi ko nga sila lagi. Alam mo ‘yung mga Bisaya, kuwento, relationship, malalim agad. Kuwento about sa experience kasi nga kailangan i-guide ang mga bata. Kailangan mo sila kasi ‘yung success nila, success mo rin,” said Barroca.
“Kung maganda ang laro mo, mas gaganda ‘yung team natin, madadagdagan ‘yung firepower natin,” said Barroca, explaining the deeper implications of his present task.
Learning to share from Yap, Simon, Pingris
Barroca said he found mentoring the logical next step for his career, which is now winding down after a distinguished record in the PBA where he was a two-time Finals MVP, a nine-time All-Star and member of the Mythical Team in 2014.
He credited former San Mig Coffee teammates James Yap, Peter June Simon, and Marc Pingris, players with whom he won a Grand Slam together during the 2013-2014 season under head coach Tim Cone, as the ones who planted the idea of mentoring younger teammates.
He said these veterans were not at all selfish with their experience and he added that he learned many things from them. This time, he said, he will do the sharing.
“Ngayon, isa na ako sa matanda na talaga dito sa team. Kailangan ko rin i-share sa kanila kasi bagong generation, i-pass mo na sa kanila eh.”
The thrust of his mentoring, he said, is defense.
And Lastimosa admitted that this was the core of Barroca's instructions. “Being tough especially on defense,” said Lastimosa, “’Yun ‘yung tumatak sa akin kay Kuya Mark. Kailangang two-way player ka dito sa PBA. Kapag hindi ka two-way player, hindi ka magtatagal. Kaya I’m working on my defense.
Alfaro said Barroca’s advice was also to play the way they did it in Zamboanga before they became pros.
“Ngayon ang focus namin is on defense. Parang we don’t care kung sino ang nasa harap namin as long as makipagpalitan kami ng mukha. Sa Zamboanga ganun eh. Sinasabi niya sa akin, ‘yun ang kailangan ko sayo, sabi ni Kuya Mark. Dinadala ko ‘yung energy, siguro ‘yung bonus, bonus na lang,” said Alfaro.
Sharing is caring
But offense is not a forgotten virtue under Barroca's tutelage. Don't be gun shy, he told them, too. Making good shots carries into other aspects of the game, Barroca said.
In Magnolia's past three games, Alfaro averaged 5.7 points after he had 11 points in Magnolia’s 98-95 overtime win over San Miguel. In that same game, Lastimosa lit up with 21 points, and is now averaging 12 a game.
“At least, hindi mo sisirain ‘yung kumpiyansa nila. Kailangan mo silang gabayan na mataas ang kumpiyansa nila. May mga miss pero part ‘yan, tira ka lang, sige. Basta pag open ka, wag maging hesistant, tira, tira,” said Barroca.
The former Smart Gilas player is happy that his words are now bearing fruit early in the Philippine Cup where the Hotshots are the early leaders.
“Sila Peter grabe, mga rookie pero hindi bagito. May ibubuga. Sila Jerom, grabe. Kasama talaga sa firepower talaga namin. ‘Yun ‘yung mas maganda ngayon especially ‘yung dalawa, guards, mas lumalim ‘yung guards namin,” he added.
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