Marcelino twins, Jaycee and Jayvee. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net
Twins Jaycee and Jayvee Marcelino take serious pride in their defense that both consider it as mission accomplished when they took turns defending Kent Salado on Tuesday.
Tasked to pester the Arellano’s ace, the Lyceum brothers did their job to the best of their abilities to help the Pirates pull off the decisive 99-65 victory.
And it was a job well done for the Marcelinos, who followed coach Topex Robinson’s instructions to a tee to preserve the Pirates’ 4-0 slate.
“That’s our job; when we have an opponent who’s scoring, I’ll be the one to guard him,” said Jayvee in Filipino.
Jaycee added: “Coach told us to guard (Salado) and not let him get away. We just put the effort on defense. We didn’t think about the points because we knew that they will come. Our job is really the defense.”
Salado was limited to a season-low of 11 points, seven rebounds, and four assists, an obvious drop from his usual numbers of 21.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 5.0 assists this season.
However, the Marcelinos won’t deny that stopping Salado was a challenge like no other, given the speed of the lead Chief.
“It really was tough because it’s the first time we faced him. It was hard to stop him, but it was a challenge for us and we enjoyed defending a known player,” said Jayvee.
Robinson was glad to see players like the Marcelinos step up to the task as he continues to challenge the rest of his crew.
“I always challenge these players. They know that this is an opportunity for them to really showcase their talent,” he said. “We always try to remember where they were before, on what happened to them before they got to Lyceum. So we’re just making sure that they’re motivated, they want to really prove and try to win for the team.”
Lyceum stakes its 4-0 record against Mapua on Friday.