THE Most Improved Player award Juami Tiongson received Sunday was a testament of the long journey he has taken to make it back and establish a name in the PBA.
Juami Tiongson on Most Improved Player award
The Terrafirma guard felt emotional after accepting his first major award in the league which he thought would never come after once finding his career rerouting via the D League.
All Tiongson wanted then was just to make it back to the country’s premier pro league.
Now the 31-year-old playmaker had seen the fruit of his long hard work.
“I never thought I would win something coming back to the PBA from the D League. My personal goal was just to play in the PBA and extend my career,” said Tiongson moments after the Leo Awards at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Tiongson was among those nominated for the MIP award along with Aaron Black (Meralco), Robert Bolick (NorthPort), Kib Montalbo (TNT), and Scottie Thompson (Barangay Ginebra).
He beat Thompson for the award by a mile, totaling 4,252 points from the accumulated votes from players, media, and the PBA Commissioner’s office.
Tiongson averaged 16.4 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game, while shooting 38 percent from three-point range.
In successive games during last season’s Philippine Cup, he broke his career high in scoring which now stands at 31 points which he registered in a 95-90 upset of Barangay Ginebra where the guard out of Ateneo went on an amazing 9-of-15 from beyond the arc.
Tiongson was so good, Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone admitted once trying to make a trade to acquire the service of the former Ateneo point guard.
A first round pick of Blackwater in the 2014 draft, Tiongson suited up two years for the Bossing before finding himself relegated in the D League, initially with Blustar and later on with AMA Online Education.
But he was good enough to have a second crack at playing in the PBA, landing with NLEX under coach Yeng Guiao, and now with Terrafirma.
He will forever be grateful for the people who trusted him and gave him another break.
“I will never forget the people that helped me get to this point. The glory goes to God. The credit goes to Boss Bobby (Rosales), coach John (Cardel), the rest of the coaching staff, and my teammates. They trusted me and gave me the confidence to play my game,” said Tiongson.
“Also I want to thank NLEX and coach Yeng (Guiao) for giving me another chance to play in the PBA,” he added. “It may seem like a personal award, but it’s a dedication to my family who believed in me even when I didn’t believe in myself.”
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