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Alvin Pasaol admitted that it was weird seeing his former coach Derrick Pumaren on the other side.
“It’s my daddy and I miss him,” Pasaol said on Monday.
Pasaol, who is currently playing for Marinerong Pilipino in the 2018 PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup, faced his longtime coach Pumaren, now serving as the general manager for CEU.
It was the first time the kindred spirits were on the opposing ends after Pumaren’s departure from University of the East back in November.
Pumaren felt the same way seeing his super scorer for the first time in months.
“It’s been awhile since I’ve seen Alvin. We were joking around and I told him I’ll get someone to get him popcorn there.”
Pasaol, though, said that their time away from each other won’t change the kind of relationship they have as they even went out of their way to kid around before the game.
“I talked to him and asked him if he still has an injury. He said that he’s ok,” the hefty forward related. “Manong even kidded that my butt is getting hot sitting on the bench.”
He may be away from Pumaren and his job may be a lot different from his role with the Red Warriors, but Pasaol knows that the veteran mentor is always watching him from afar. And that’s why he’s just keeping the faith in his current coach Koy Banal as he aims to mesh with the Skippers.
“I think I still need to learn coach Koy’s system. It’s one of the factors why I haven’t got much playing time yet,” he said. The 22-year-old is currently averaging 2.67 points, 2.67 rebounds, and 0.67 assists in his 5.3 minutes in his three games for Marinerong Pilipino — a clear indication of the amount of work he still needs to put in to see some playing time.
“I know I need to be patient. It doesn’t matter who you are or whatever you did. You have to put in the hard work and show coach Koy that I’m deserving of more playing time,” he said.
For his part, Pumaren is glad to see his former player experience different coaches as he sees this stint as nothing but beneficial for Pasaol’s overall development.
“It’s going to be big for him,” he said.
CEU won, 104-93, giving Pumaren the last laugh in the duel.
“I’m on the other side now. Nothing personal,” he said.