RR Garcia rediscovers the joy of basketball with NLEX

The last time I saw RR Garcia, he was walking out of the SM MOA Arena with his future uncertain. His FEU Tamaraws had been defeated by the DLSU Green Archers in a playoff for the last slot of the UAAP Final Four. I repeatedly asked him if he was returning for one more tour of duty with the Tamaraws. All he could answer was, “Di ko pa alam.” He was blanketed in uncertainty brought about by a horrible ending to the season. Doubt clouded his mind. Should he return and try to make things work with a team that didn’t trust him with the game’s final shot? Should he try to retake his role as the primary playmaker on the team? Should he just accept the fact that Terrence Romeo will dominate the ball and embrace the role of second fiddle? Or should he just close his collegiate career with that bitter loss? Nothing was clear for Garcia. He was hurting. Physically. Mentally. As he walked out of the arena, he talked about having an operation done on his foot. “May bone spurs kasi ako,” Garcia admitted. “Buong season ko tiniis, ngayon siguro puwede na pa-operahan.” The pain on his foot was substantial but it wasn’t what was bothering him the most. His pride took a hit throughout that year. Failing to make it to the Final Four for the first time in his career only compounded the pain. After the UAAP season, Garcia picked himself up by re-signing with the reigning PBA D-League champions. He opted to return to the NLEX Road Warriors, whose third-stringers could literally start for other teams. In their first game of the D-League season, the Road Warriors started the game with the former UAAP MVP coming off the bench. Garcia entered the game with 4:20 left in the first quarter, checking in alongside Ateneo’s stopper Oping Sumalinog and two-time UAAP Finals MVP Nico Salva. On the very first time he touched the ball, Garcia crossed his man over and watched as the defense collapsed around him. He then rifled a pass to a wide open Ronald Pascual for a three. With time running out in the first quarter, Garcia threw a perfect inbound pass to a streaking Ian Sangalang. More of the same happened the rest of the game. He found Salva for an easy shot. Then he got a rebound off his own miss and passed it to Garvo Lanete for another wide open three. Garcia’s numbers were not mind-blowing. He only scored a single point in the game, while dishing out five assists. His performance, on paper, was nothing special. But the way Garcia played the game was so different from the last time I saw him on the court. He was actually having fun out there, something I haven’t seen since maybe his MVP year. “Point guard naman kasi talaga ang laro ko,” Garcia explained. “Di naman ako naghahanap ng bola kung hindi talaga kailangan.” He shot the ball only three times in a paltry 16 minutes but he helped establish the tone for the Road Warriors. On a team filled with collegiate stars, someone has to assume the role of giving up their numbers for the sake of the other. He was all smiles after exiting their dugout. He was happy about the win. Happier about the situation he was in. The last time I saw him, he didn’t know if he would ever wear FEU’s green and yellow again. But because of the fresh air that his first game as a Road Warrior blew in, it seems that the FEU faithful may just get their boy back. “Nag-iba na yung situwayson e. Si Coach Nash [Racela] na yung sa FEU,” Garcia explained. “Dribble drive yung opensa namin dito sa NLEX, ganun din naman yung sistema ni Coach Nash kaya ngayon masasabi ko na malaki yung posibilidad na bumalik ako sa FEU.” Losing brought in question after question for RR Garcia. Now that he’s back in his element, now that he’s back to winning again, those questions are slowly being answered. - AMD, GMA News