JON REDICK "SUPER RED" BORDEOS' MPL debut could suffer the same fate that Kent Xavier "Kevier" Lopez experienced back in Season 9.
Against the defending M4 World Champions, the stakes were already high for the Blacklist rookie gold laner, and all eyes were centered on him knowing that Blacklist's win condition relied on how he performed in the late game.
Unfortunately, after being picked off numerous times and with the team suffering from an embarassing 0-2 defeat in the opening day, Super Red became the victim of hate comments and toxicity, reminiscent of Kevier back in Season 9.
His performances also raised some eyebrows as to why Blacklist opted to choose him, when Lee Howard "Owl" Gonzales seems to have a better chemistry with the team due to his experience playing with the main roster in the Southeast Asian Games.
But unlike Kevier, Red immediately redeemed himself on the following day. His Brody in Game 1 became the catalyst for the team's success and he even bagged the MVP honors after an impressive 13/1/2 display.
The difference against TNC compared to ECHO was night and day and Red revealed that the negative comments he received from the fans was his source of motivation.
"Actually noong natalo po kami kagabi vs. ECHO, napansin ko na ang daming nag-bash sa akin...pero hindi po ako nagpadala sa mga sinasabi sa akin, ginawa ko po siyang motivation," said Red in the post-match press conference.
Then when asked as to why he struggled in the opener, he told Mara Aquino: "Kinakabahan kase po ako kagabi tapos sinabi ko sa sarili ko pati sa team ko na babawi po ako ngayon.
While Super Red's sudden explosion could be attributed to his mental willpower, Blacklist revealed during the media day interview with the press, that coaching Kevier back in Season 9 brought a lot of new learnings for the team.
What Blacklist learned from Kevier experience?
Dexter "DEX STARR" Louise Alaba revealed what exactly went wrong when they tried to integrate Kevier in the lineup. Given the short time frame from M3 to Season 9, everything was rushed.
"Siguro yung naging mali namin noong Season 9, masyado kaming nagmadali. As in yung given time namin sobrang iksi lang, kase galing kami sa M3 noon and dun din namin nalaman na magpapahinga yung V33Wise, talagang sobrang rush talaga yung kay Kevier," said the Blacklist analyst.
And going into Season 11 from the M4, it was the same situation, only this time, it was the MV3 minus Edward, and a couple of key contributors from behind the scenes (ESON, BON CHAN, and Rada) who took a hiatus from the team, while a new set of rookies emerged.
This added a lot of pressure on new head coach Aniel "Master the Basics" Jiandani, who mentioned in the press conference that the same problems from last season are likewise happening again.
"Ah siguro yung pinakamahirap kase sa amin, ah yung time na sobrang limited kase yung time namin sa practice kase after M4, kailangan namin magpahinga, tapos kailangan pa namin maghanap ng players, so sobrang liit ng practice time namin with new players.
He added: "Tapos yun nga, nawala pa si Coach (BON CHAN), nagpahinga si ESON, medyo malaking adjustment siya para sa amin, so hanggang ngayon nag-a-adjust pa kami."
While it may seem that Blacklist might suffer the same fate again, DEX STARR explained that what happened back in Season 9, was a great learning experience for the team coming into Season 11, as they are more prepared now than before.
"Yung pagkuha namin kay Kevier during that time, panahon pa ni Kairi yun e, pero ito kase na-filter out talaga namin yung skills ng mga bata, so for me ready [na] talaga sila sa pro league," opined Alaba.
With the two rookies exploding against TNC and with Renejay "RENEJAY" Barcarse, adding a different flavor to the team, perhaps a different shade of Black will emerge as the season progresses.
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