Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net
Ball is life for Juan Gomez de Liaño.
The UAAP Season 80 Rookie of the Year played three games in a span of less than 24 hours as he suited up for University of the Philippines and Gilas cadets in the 2018 Filoil Flying V Preseason Cup.
Unfortunately for Gomez de Liaño, he went 0-3.
“It’s tough. I don’t know what I’m feeling right now,” he said.
Gomez de Liaño wasn’t the only one who pulled off the triple-duty, with Paul Desiderio and Will Gozum also seeing action for those teams. But of the three, it was him who consistently played in crunch time and kept his teams in the game despite fighting from behind.
He averaged 14.7 points over the weekend, including crucial triples which kept his teams in the game up to the waning seconds.
Gomez de Liaño, though, refused to look at his individual contributions and maintained that his focus is on helping his team win, may it be the Fighting Maroons or the national team.
“It was a wasted the effort because we lost. But I did my best and that’s what matters. I did all I can do to help my team. But it’s okay. It’s part of the process,” he said.
Rather than mope on a winless outing, Gomez de Liaño believes that he can still be better from his performance this weekend and once again, be an iron man.
“I wasn’t able to lead the teams to win, but I think I can do better,” he said.