A FUN text exchange between two Gilas brothers-in-arms compared SJ Belangel’s last-minute dagger to a NBA 2K21 badge.
Like many Filipinos, Aljon “Shintarou” Cruzin, one of the key playmakers of the E-Gilas national team for NBA 2K21, was elated when the young gunner from Ateneo pulled off a miracle trey in the dying seconds of last night's tense match against South Korea in the Fiba qualifiers in Clark.
So he shot him a random message. “Idol napakahusay mo dun!!” Shintarou said.

To his surprise, Belangel replied — displaying a savvy knowledge of NBA 2K, as well.
“Thank [you] so much idol,” said SJ. “Isang karangalan po. Na-flexible release HOF lang po ahhaha.”
In NBA 2K parlance, a flexible release badge is a gameplay aid you can apply to a created player which aids you in nailing those notoriously difficult timing windows in the game’s shot meter.
"Yung flexible release kasi, nakakapagpataas ng chance ma-shoot yung bola kapag di excellent release yung tira," explained Shintarou in an interview with Spin.ph.
“HOF” refers to the “Hall of Fame” version of this badge, which allows poorly timed shots to hit the basket at a slightly higher rate.
Belangel also saluted Shintarou, who was recently recognized by the 2K Veterans League Asia as one of its top performers, with 34 points and 7.6 assists per game, as well as a sharpshooting 60 percent accuracy from beyond the arc.
“Napanood ko lang po kayo sa live,” said Belangel, dropping a fire emoji in the chat. “[I]sa pong karangalan.”
“Hindi ko pa po sya name-meet actually,“ Shintarou told Spin.ph. However, the entire E-Gilas team was watching the down-the-wire game yesterday night. “Nung na-shoot ni Belangel yung last shot halos lahat kami napatalon sa tuwa hahaha sobrang solid talaga ng tira.”
What surprised Shintarou the most about their text exchange wasn’t that Belangel actually replied, but that the fearless youngster knew his stuff, and was even a Shintarou fan as well.
“Naglalaro din pala sya ng game mode namin na Pro Am,” he said, almost in disbelief.
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