WITH their conference hanging by a thread, GlobalPort coach Pido Jarencio pleaded for Jonathan Grey to give him something – anything to help the Batang Pier stay alive.
Grey dutifully obliged.
Grey scored 22 points as a starter and drained a corner three pointer with 11.5 seconds to go as GlobalPort lived to fight another day in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals with a 114-113 win over top-seed Rain or Shine.
“Sabi koo naman sa kanya, ‘Laruan mo naman ako. Bigyan mo ako ng depensa, bigyan mo ako ng score.’ Sabi niya, ‘Sige coach,’” said Jarencio.
“Kaya yung playing time andoon. At the same time, nag-deliver. For sure priority na siya sa rotation,” he added.
For Grey, a challenge like that – especially coming from his head coach – is not something that he’ll shy away from.
“Yung coach mo, kinakausap ka ng ganun, parang iba na. Magiging confident ka talaga na maglalaro ka ng maganda. Binibigay niya sa yo yung tiwala e. Ibang klase,” said the former St. Benilde gunner.
His unwavering confidence was on display in the endgame, where, after missing a free throw which could have tied the game at 112-all, Grey had no hesitation pulling the trigger on the go-ahead trey.
“Andami kong open shots, three points, free throws, lahat open and andami kong na-miss. Tinulungan ako ni Stanley (Pringle) tiyaka nila coach Pido, nila coach Renzy (Bajar) na sinabi lang nila na itira ko lang na itira at wag isipin ang sablay,” said Grey.
“Sabi ko the next na makuha ko yung bola, ako na lang, titira ko na. Bahala na,” he smiled. “Pag sablay, panget. Pero pagna-shoot, pogi. (ka)”
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