With Pingris’ guidance, Maliksi strives to play better defense

Marc Pingris is no stranger to being the cool big brother to his teammates.

He has always been the fun-loving elder statesman the younger players look up to and during his time with Gilas Pilipinas, he developed a solid friendship with three-time PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo.

His role is no different when it came to his mother club Star, where he has taken the small forward Allein Maliksi under his wing though they place different positions.

“I always talk to him in practice. I tell him, ‘Allein you can shoot outside, you’re tall, but I will give you some brotherly advice, you have to play more defense,” said Pingris Wednesday after their 119-95 win over Blackwater at Cuneta Astrodome.

At 5-4, Star is within a win away from a quarterfinals berth in the Philippine Cup.

And Maliksi heeded Pingris’ call and clamped down on Blackwater’s prized rookie Mac Belo.

Not only did Maliksi come away with a game-high 26 points but he also limited Belo to six points and allowed just seven field goal attempts.

Belo was averaging 16 points a game prior to their matchup against Star and his six-point output was his second-lowest scoring game in the conference.

Maliksi, himself, admits he can’t be a scorer alone and he took the initiative to become a two-way player.

“I can’t be just a one-way player, you should be able to play on both the defensive and offensive ends,” said Maliksi.

And for his defensive effort alone, Maliksi has earned the praise of Pingris.

“I’m happy he was able to play good defense on Belo,” said Pingris.