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Jared Dillinger acknowledges that he still has a long way to go before he takes the leadership baton for Meralco.
But to do that, he has to get to his peak form first.
“I need to focus on getting better. I need to focus on myself first before I can really put myself as a leader,” he said as the Bolts look for someone to take the role of captain left by the now-retired Jimmy Alapag.
“I got to get better, I got to perform and lead by example before I can be a leader and start making speeches. You got to earn respect first before anything.”
Dillinger was far from his desired shape on Sunday, posting two points and three rebounds in eight minutes on the floor in the Bolts’ 86-84 loss to Blackwater.
It was his first game since returning from the hamstring injury he incurred in the semifinals of the 2016 Governors’ Cup, and the 32-year-old admits he is still struggling to find his groove coming from a long layoff.
But Dillinger is willing to put in the work as he tries to help Meralco make waves anew this 2017 PBA Philippine Cup.
“It’s going to be a process,” he said. “I haven’t played in two months. I just started practicing maybe three days ago, but coach put me there a little bit just to run up and down. My legs aren’t there yet and I’m still feeling weak, but it’s an improvement from before.”
It’s not just Dillinger, though, who needs some acclimatizing, as the Bolts also eye to blend in rookies Jonathan Grey and Ed Daquioag, new acquisition Joseph Yeo, and injured big men like Justin Chua and Rabeh Al-Hussaini to their system.
“Bigger picture-wise, we got basically six guys that really haven’t played in our rotation, so of course, it’s going to take time to adjust,” he said. “We have a week before our next game so we got to figure it out.”