LAGUNA Pistons guard Raymart Amil was the only player in eight of the 1v1 games organized by the National Basketball League and Isolation Basketball Championship on Saturday that blanked his opponent.
The 27-year-old Amil won over Marvin Baracael, 10-0, in Saturday’s 1v1 basketball games at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center that served as a prelude to a league that will soon be launched. He won via a technical knockout which goes to a player who wins by 10 points or more.
The former Centro Escolar University standout is happy for the win more so since he claimed it after not having played any single official game during the pandemic, settling for workouts under conditioning coach Luis Torres.
“Sobrang thankful lang ako sa outcome ng preparation,” said Amil, whose last game was on March 8, 2020 when the Pistons bowed to the Cavite Ballers in the NBL playoffs.
“More than one year na ‘yung workout galing sa conditioning coach namin si Luis Torres. Nung ininvite ako, nag-prepare ako for almost two weeks. Sumakto naman ‘yung program at conditioning.”
After he was invited to play in the 1v1 game, the 5-foot-8 Amil worked on his skills through a basketball court in front of his home.
“Nag-put up lang ng court sa tapat ng bahay. Sobrang blessed din nakatulong din. Every morning tapos pag-out ko sa office, extra shots. Sobrang blessed talaga,” said Amil.
Despite the workouts, Amil admitted he also got fatigued in the early goings of the match, but was fortunate enough that the shots were falling in for the quick victory which he offered to Laguna Pistons head coach Rex Dedicatoria, who recently passed away.
“Nung end of first round, pagod na pagod talaga ako. Sobrang blessed lang na nahuhulog. Pinagdasal ko din ‘yung game para kay coach Rex. Maganda rin siguro ‘yung gabay ni coach Rex,” sad Amil, who also thanked his wife Patricia for her support.
After experiencing the 1v1 game first hand, Amil said he is all for staging similar matches in an innovative way to play basketball during the pandemic.
“Siyempre, sa basketball, malaking tulong ito. Alam naman natin tayong mga Pilipino, talagang mahilig sa basketball. Sadyang na-stuck lang dahil sa pandemic. Nakakatakot lumabas. Hindi natin kita ‘yung virus. Etong 1v1, maganda ngayong pandemic. Pasok na pasok siya. Napakagandang idea,” he added.
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