Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
James Yap may have been in a shooting slump in his first three games of the season, but it never affected his confidence heading into Rain or Shine’s game against Phoenix on Wednesday.
Yap kept shooting and finally regained his touch to help the Elasto Painters cruise to a 120-99 win over the Fuel Masters and avoid his team from slipping further into the standings.
“I just kept working hard. I never got discouraged despite how bad my last three games were,” said Yap in Filipino.
“Of course, we thought if we lose we’ll be closer to the bottom of the standings and coach reminded us that we need to win for us to at least be in the middle of the pack.”
The star swingman shot a combined 4-of-26 from the field in his first three games, averaging just 3.3 points during the stretch.
But his bad days are over after exploding for 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field, including 4-of-5 from deep in 20 minutes.
“I think everybody expects James to play well but he’s just human,” said ROS coach Caloy Garcia. “But what we want from James is to basically play his best. Whether he’s in a slump, we still want him taking shots.”
Yap, who turns 36 next month, hopes his efficient outing is the start of a string of good shooting games.
“I hope we can carry this performance over into our next game.”