A GOLD medal in the 20th Asian Games could have been the second straight for Calvin Oftana, the only remnant from the Hangzhou team that captured the crown in dramatic fashion thanks to the heroics of Justin Brownlee.
But it was not to be as Gilas Pilipinas was unable to repeat in Aichi-Nagoya, even failing to reach the quarterfinals in the year that they were defending the Asiad title.
But Oftana, a late inclusion to the Gilas team due to the injury of Brownlee that kept him out for the title defense, said he has no regrets, saying he left everything out there on the court, especially now that he is injury-free.
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“Ginawa ko lang ‘yung best ko doon,” said Oftana on Wednesday after his game with TNT in the PBA Governors’ Cup on Wednesday. “Underperform lang kami. Hindi man kami nakapasok sa next round, I’m just proud na nirepresent namin ‘yung country with all our might, ‘yung anong kaya namin gawin doon.”
Oftana played his first PBA game this conference on Wednesday after missing the first eight games of the Governors’ Cup, where he scored 31 points in TNT’s 116-92 victory over Terrafirma.
But Oftana’s first actual competitive game since recovering from his various injuries in his calf and foot was in the Asiad. He also produced the points for Gilas Pilipinas, even being a late addition, and averaged a team-high 18.7 points in the three group stage games.
Oftana was glad that he was able to give it his all, injury-free during that Asian Games.
“Sayang. Pero sabi ko, hindi naman araw-araw Pasko. May mga times talaga na gusto mong manalo pero hindi sumasangayon sa inyo,” Oftana said.
“I’m proud na na-represent namin ‘yung bansa natin na walang halong kaba, walang halong ibang iniisip (kundi) na maglaro lang para sa bansa and i-represent ‘yung Pilipino doon and sa mga coaches doon at sa mga teammates ko,” said Oftana.
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