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Kevin Ferrer shook off the cobwebs and found his old form late, saving Tanduay in his debut game on Monday.
Missing his first six three-point attempts, the former UST standout mustered enough courage and heaved one last shot, this time drilling an all-important trey to push the Rhum Masters up, 75-74, past Cafe France with 39.2 seconds left which would eventually be the game-winning basket.
“Binigyan lang ako ng tiwala ni coach at ng teammates ko,” said Ferrer as he announced his arrival in style. “Nagtiwala din ako sa sarili ko kasi kung di ko itinira yun, walang mangyayari. Keep on trying lang naman eh.”
The Gilas cadet finished with nine points and five rebounds in his first game in a Rhum Masters uniform.
Coming from a two-month layoff, Ferrer admitted he missed the grind of playing in a competitive setting.
“Two months na akong puro weights lang. Ang hirap kasi walang laro. Basta tumawag lang ako sa agent ko na gusto ko maglaro and Tanduay ang nag-respond,” he said.
And Ferrer’s adjustment to his new team wasn’t a difficult one either, with him being familiar with some of the players in the Tanduay lineup.
“Winelcome naman ako sa team nila. Sabi rin ni coach, gawin ko lang yung laro ko and wala namang problema sa kanila,” he said.
Tanduay coach Lawrence Chongson is more than satisfied with the way his new acquisition delivered for his team, as he said that based on this first game, Ferrer can help Tanduay reach heights it has never been in.
“Performance-wise, he made that game-winning three. That alone, sulit na ang pagkuha namin sa kanya. But kinuha naman namin sya di lang para sa Cafe France. Ang ultimate goal pa rin namin is to make it to the Finals and hopefully, we can bring him along pa with our system.”
The Rhum Masters now sit at fourth place, just behind the theee-team tie at first with Cafe France, Racal, and Phoenix in the race for the top two in the 2016 PBA D-League Foundation Cup.
Ferrer, though, doesn’t want to get too ahead of himself as his focus remains on helping Tanduay to sustain its winning ways.
“Mahirap magsabi na ako yung last piece para sa Tanduay,” he said. “Gagawin ko lang yung best ko para manalo yung team kasi 100-percent akong committed sa kanila.”