BLACKWATER may have dropped its second straight game in the PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup, but one positive thing that the Bossing can take from this loss is how their rookie Jack Cruz-Dumont has performed.
While all eyes are on third overall pick Dalph Panopio, the 27th overall pick in Cruz-Dumont is making a clear case for himself in coach Jeffrey Cariaso’s rotation after posting 19 points in Blackwater’s 110-100 loss to Rain or Shine on Friday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
The 6’3 guard played his best game as a pro, scoring eight quick points to keep Blackwater afloat after a horror start when it trailed Rain or Shine 21-3 early on.
READ Rain or Shine returns to winning ways by turning back Blackwater
He kept his confidence in the fourth, even draining a four-pointer which gave Blackwater an 87-85 lead, the last field goal they’d be making before Rain or Shine’s fiery fourth-quarter finishing kick.
“Since I got here I wanted to be aggressive and show that I can contribute to the team, it doesn’t matter that I was a third-round pick, I think I gained confidence in the tune-up games, I was playing well there, and it translated to the season,” Cruz-Dumont told Spin.ph.
“It’s not the start that we wanted, we knew that we needed some energy and I wanted to come in and provide that.”
What’s even more impressive is how the Fil-Canadian guard is coming off a scoreless outing against Meralco where he missed all of his seven shots.
Safe to say, confidence won’t be an issue for this former UE Red Warrior.
“Like I said, I just want to contribute to the team and I feel really comfortable taking my shots and being out there.”
While his career game didn’t result in a win, Cruz-Dumont will certainly be bringing that added confidence in him when they take on NLEX on Wednesday.
The rookie is happy with his performance, and he’s happy with the grit that they’re showing but he hopes to avoid needing that said ‘grit’ come the next game, knowing that they need to start better.
“I really wanted to win today. The last two games, we showed that we can come back but we can’t be in those situations,” he said.
“As a team we need to clean up some things. We can’t go down so much and always be coming back. We’ll figure it out as a team. We have the pieces. We’re right there. Personally I’m just gonna stay aggressive.”
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