KAI Ballungay scored a season-high 21 points in Ateneo's 76-55 win over Adamson on Wednesday.
Not bad for someone who admits he's still trying to find his feet in the UAAP.
"Like what coach [Tab Baldwin] said, it's definitely a process," said the Fil-Am freshman after hitting eight of 10 shots in his best game in blue and white so far. "For me, Paul [Garcia] and Gab [Gomez], it's something we had to really learn."
[READ: Ballungay savors breakout game for Ateneo]
Ballungay said the first thing they need to do is get used to the Philippine brand of basketball, adding, "Like coach said, talent isn't enough, we really had to match the physicality, the pace of the game, and it's something we're still learning."
Ballungay, who was recruited by Ateneo from Stanislaus State University, had an eventful preseason that saw him win MVP honors at the World University Basketball Series in Tokyo last August after averaging 13.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.7 steals, and a block.
He hasn't been as impressive in his first few UAAP games with the Blue Eagles, but Baldwin said all the 6-foot-7 forward needs to do is settle down and settle their minds down.
"Just going into this game, we really wanted to control the tempo. It was our emphasis this whole week, just being able to control the pace of the game," said Ballungay on the team's state of mind going to the Adamson game.
"So I think we did a better job tonight, just really running our transition and finding the open guys. So I think that was big, and something that we wanna continue going to the next game [against University of the East]."
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