ANTIPOLO – Back-up big man Raymar Jose played his best game of the season Thursday night in a 97-87 Meralco victory over skidding NorthPort in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Ynares Center.
The big man out of Far Eastern University scored all of his nine points in the second quarter when the Bolts stepped on the gas and widened the gap from the Batang Pier.
He also ended up with a team-high 13 rebounds and was 4-of-9 from the field overall.
[See Meralco add to NorthPort misery]
And part of the sudden rejuvenation of his career had something to do with Jose shedding off the unwanted pounds dating back in the Governors’ Cup playoffs.
Jose said he lost 15 kilos (or 33 pounds) through his no rice diet.
“Nag diet talaga ako nung last conference pa, before mag-start ng quarterfinals. Mga two months ko siyang ginawa,” said Jose, a former D-League MVP.
“Bale wala akong rice, walang sweets,” he added. “Sa sobrang payat ko na, kailangang ibalik ko na yung iba.”
It helped, too, that evergreen big man Reynel Hugnatan had been a model player for them, who despite his advanced age, managed to keep himself in tip top shape.
It was Hugnatan who inspired not only Jose but the other Meralco players to take on a healthy lifestyle.
“Kahit hindi kami ginagamit si kuya Reynel Hugnatan nandun, nag-ga-guide sa amin na kahit hindi kami ginagamit dito, workout pa rin kami everyday, nagsi-sipag pa rin kami,” Jose said.
“So nakakatuwa kasi pag ginamit kami ni coach ready kami palagi. Siya talaga yung parang mentor namin.”
Coach Norman Black took notice of Jose’s transformation health-wise, that he began to give him some playing minutes at the start of the season.
“That’s the reason why he’s getting playing time,” Black stressed. “He’s been part of the rotation. He will be made part of the rotation, because for me, he gets it now.
"Offensively and defensively, he’s there with everybody else as far as knowing what he has to do and executing it. He does it every day in practice and I’m just rewarding him with the way he practices every day.”
So infectious is the energy that Jose has been bringing to the court that Black said he’s like a mini-Cliff Hodge.
While he’ll take the compliment, Jose said he’d rather do it on his own merits.
“Ako trabaho lang naman ako. Kung tawagin niya ako (Black), ready lang ako,” said the Meralco forward.
The Bolts raised their record to 2-1 after previously losing to TNT, 78-71.
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