Cjay Perez’s rollercoaster PBA Philippine Cup Fnals continued, with his struggles reaching its lowest so far in San Miguel’s 86-78 Game 5 loss on Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
After finishing with 16 points on an efficient 6-of-11 shooting in a Game 4 resurgence, Perez bombed out in the supposed clincher as he was limited to just five points on 1-9 shooting from the field.
Perez’s struggles couldn’t be any more evident than early in the fourth period right when they were making a comeback, only down by four.
READ: TNT stands defiant, mauls SMB to extend PBA Finals to a Game Six
His turnover resulted in an RR Pogoy three-point play, before missing two free throws on the next play to halt San Miguel’s momentum. The Beermen never got that close again.
“Mahirap talaga mag close-out ng series. Na-outwork nila kami. We’re not making our shots. Yun ang isang problema,” Perez rued.
When asked about his solution to his struggles? Perez kept it simple – he has to find more shots for him.
The pride of Bautista, Pangasinan clarified that he’s not about to just chuck one shot after another, but insists that the only way that he can break out of this slump is by getting his rhythm early.
That won’t happen if he lets his struggles affect his confidence.
“I think di lang ako nakakuha ng good looks. Siguro depende na rin sa'kin e, saan ako makakahanap ng tira, kailan ako titira kasi from elimination to playoffs pababa ng pababa yung attempts ko so kailangan ko maging aggressive sa una pa lang,” Perez said.
“Of course. Yun ang maitutulong ko sa team. If hindi ako magiging aggressive sa defense at offense, parang hindi ako yun e. Possession by possession dapat yan ang itake namin tapos yung defense, yun ang nawala sa'min.”
At the very least, Perez can say that he was aggressive on defense in this game, finishing with five steals as he made life hell for TNT’s ball handlers.
But at the end of the day, his true worth lies in his ability to put the ball in the hoop, something that he hopes to rediscover come Game 5.
“Hindi naman [kami] nape-pressure. They’re a good team. Champion team yan. Hindi naman nila basta-basta ibibigay yan. Kailangan namin paghirapan,” Perez said.
“Nakakapanghinayang pero may Friday pa naman. Yun ang magandang nangyari, may isang game na pwede pa kami makabawi.”
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