ADD Joshua David to Yeng Guiao’s diamonds in the rough who only needed exposure to shine.
The rookie guard made the most of a rare start on Wednesday to help Rain or Shine come out with a 97-85 win over Barangay Ginebra that tied their PBA 50th Season Commissioner’s Cup semifinal series at two games apiece.
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The Elasto Painters’ second-round pick and 24th overall in the last rookie draft put up the best game of his young career so far, contributing eight points on 3-of-6 shooting, two boards, one assist, and one steal without a turnover in over 18 minutes.
“Joshua was just looking for a break,” RoS coach Yeng Guiao said. “Nandun talaga sa ano niya yun, meron talaga siyang galing. May talento siya, and he was just looking for a break. He can defend, he can shoot the three.”
“Hindi ako nagugulat that he’s making his threes, because he’s working on his threes. I’m actually expecting that from Josh,” he added.
Coming in averaging just 2.5 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in 12.3 minutes over just four games in the elimination round, David drained two treys right in the first quarter where the E-Painters set the tone with an eight-point lead.
The 26-year-old combo guard out of La Salle was one of seven players who scored at least eight points each to help in the E-Painters’ balanced attack that saw import Jaylen Johnson needing just 13 points on 13 attempts to secure the win.
“Sinasabi nila na maging ready lang kami kung sinong hugutin sa amin. At least kung ano matutulong namin,” David said.
The 6-foot David also delivered on defense, having a hand in prolific Ginebra guard RJ Abarrientos being held to eight points on eight attempts in over 36 minutes.
“Sobrang saya lang din kasi knowing na idol natin sila e. Nakakasama, nakakalaban namin. So yun lang, sobrang blessed lang,” David said about defending Abarrientos and Scottie Thompson.
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