Having PBA veteran and national team guard Scottie Thompson around as an assistant coach has been beneficial to a youth-laden Perpetual side in the NCAA Season 99.
Cyrus Nitura, for one, almost tallied a triple-double in the ALTAs' 81-74 win against Arellano University on Tuesday, finishing with 13 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists, as well as five steals, as they kept their Final Four hopes alive.
Despite big numbers, Nitura shared he just did his job to atone for a lackluster outing in the previous game against Jose Rizal University.
Nitura also stressed that his determination was part of his admiration for Thompson, who played for the ALTAs from 2011 to 2015 and is now one of the team's deputies.
"Talagang trabaho lang din talaga ako pero kasi nag-usap kami (Thompson) at sabi niya nakikita niya raw ‘yung sarili niya sa akin. Oo (idol o siya) kasi ang sipag eh," Nitura said after an all-around outing.
("I just kept working but we spoke and he told me he sees himself in me. He's so hard-working.")
Nitura also shared that a talk with head coach Myk Saguiguit sparked his desire to bounce back after a scoreless performance against the Heavy Bombers last Saturday.
"Kinausap lang ako ni Coach Myk kaya ganon siguro ‘yung pinakita ko," he added.
("Coach Myk spoke to me and that might have been why I played that way.")
Saguiguit echoed Nitura, saying he reminded his ward to just minimize his errors on the court as all of their games from here on will be crucial.
"May usapan kami (Nitura), sabi ko ‘pag nag-error ka, assistant coach kita. Eh ang ganda ng start niya so humaba ‘yung minutes niya," Saguiguit said in jest.
"Actually ‘yung team naman namin any given day talagang anybody can be anybody on our team. Kumbaga kung wala ‘yung Razon at Roque sa scoring, meron naman Nitura."
("We had a talk, I said, if you commit an error, you'll be an assistant coach. But he played really well, and so he got longer minutes.... Actually, our team, anybody can be anybody on any given day. If Razon and Roque aren't there to provide the scoring, we can turn to Nitura.")
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
