A DAY after celebrating his 42nd birthday, Reynel Hugnatan continued to defy Father Time in the PBA Philippine Cup.
Hugnatan scored 14 points in Meralco's 89-85 victory over Blackwater on Wednesday, continuing his resurgence in the league bubble that has seen the veteran average 13 points on 27.6 minutes per game.
Last season, Hugnatan averaged only 3.6 points per game on 12.1 minutes per contest. Inside the bubble, it seemed as if the league's third oldest active player after Asi Taulava and Rafi Reavis is in a time warp.
“If I didn’t have this mask on my face, you’ll see that there’s a smile in my face,” said Meralco coach Norman Black during the postgame press conference. “Reynel’s birthday was yesterday. He turned 42 years old. It’s an amazement that he is still playing at the level he is playing despite the fact that he is getting older.
“We call him ‘Pops’ and he comes to work everyday, he puts the work in and he keeps his body in great shape,” he said.
Black bared Hugnatan was one of the players who continued to work on his body during the stoppage of play due to the pandemic - the reason he's playing so well now.
“Reynel, probably along with [Chris] Newsome, has been our consistent scorer right at the start of the conference. A lot of it has to do with the fact that he kept himself in great shape during the pandemic when we weren’t playing.
"You can say it to most of the players: the ones that kept themselves in better shape are the ones that are excelling right now,” Black said.
In Black's eyes, Hugnatan is the consummate professional.
“Reynel is the type that he really doesn’t have to be told to do anything because he does it because he is a professional. It is really helping us right now," said the Bolts coach.
"I didn’t expect Reynel Hugnatan would be one of our leading scorers this conference to be quite honest with you, but I’m accepting the fact that he is there every single [time] for us. He is playing well and he is going to be there on the court."
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