SJ Belangel is just beaming with excitement as he braces for his first season in Korea.
SJ Belangel on Korea stint
And a big chunk of that comes from the opportunity to face off against familiar faces with Pinoys peppering the Korean Basketball League (KBL) for the upcoming season.
"Sobrang excited ako. Nagkakalokohan na nga kami na every time pag bibisita kami sa iba’t ibang province, sila ang manglilibre. Kunwari kay RJ [Abarrientos] pag nandoon ako, lilibre niya ako. Pag andoon siya sa akin, ililibre ko siya," he said with a chuckle.
Belangel is set to leave for Korea on Friday as he links up with his new club Daegu KOGAS Pegasus to begin a new chapter in his basketball career as a professional.
But as ecstatic as he is to bond with the likes of Abarrientos and Rhenz Abando, Belangel insisted that once they step on the court, they're nothing but foes.
"Even though ganoon kami, kapag nagkalaban-laban kami walang kaibigan. Alam naman namin sa isa’t isa yun," he said. "We're there to represent our country, we’re there to represent our new team. At the end of the day, we're still friends and ganoon naman kami kapag naglalaro kami we give our best."
It's a courageous leap for Belangel to take, but he understands that it's all part of a life of a basketball player as he went out of his comfort zone to become a trailblazer in Korea.
"We just have to grow," said the 5-foot-10 guard. "Pagdating ko doon, I just have to train pero more on plays pa lang. Pero excited na ako makalaro sa Korea."
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