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It has been five years since Vernon Macklin played in the Philippines, and for him, a lot has changed.
“I would say that the locals developed pretty well. It’s more spread out now,” he said, observing that the level of play in the league has gone up.
“There’s a lot of good players in each team. The effort is still the same, they play all-out. I could say that the locals are more advanced skills-wise.”
With that being said, Macklin challenges himself to be better after Magnolia’s tough 87-89 defeat to Phoenix in its 2018 PBA Commissioner’s Cup opener.
“I think I need to get into better shape,” he said. “Playing in the KBL, I played a certain amount of minutes. Going here, [imports] play 48 minutes, so I gotta get back in shape to help my team down the stretch.”
The 31-year-old collected his usual statline of 25 points and 17 rebounds, but the Hotshots still lost after Matthew Wright won it for the Fuel Masters in the waning seconds.
Despite the disappointing loss, Macklin remains optimistic.
“I’m very upbeat. These guys went straight to the Finals and this is our first game. We just gave up a lot of rebounds and second chance points. But we’re still upbeat and we will only get better. We got to watch film and pick each other up,” he said.
Magnolia tries to bounce back on Saturday against GlobalPort in Angeles City.