Detonating the H-Bomb: Hatfield fires up Kings at crucial moment
Mark Caguioa went three-of-13 from the field, Jayjay Helterbrand missed seven of his nine shots while Kerby Raymundo was a non-factor with just two points.
Good thing for Barangay Ginebra, Rudy Hatfield, dubbed as the H-Bomb, exploded at the most opportune time as the Gin Kings chalked up a big, 94-91, overtime win over Talk ‘N Text Sunday night to keep their bid alive for a quarterfinal berth.
Hatfield, the 34-year-old big man, finished with a career-high 30 points on 14-of-20 shooting from the field and hauled down 14 rebounds.
“I am old so it’s very shocking. But it was like I said a collaborative effort. We tried to play as hard as we could,” Hatfield told INQUIRER.net.
Nobody would have thought about the world old though, watching Hatfield’s usual hustle and unmatched energy.
“That’s key for us tonight, the energy of the players was really high, it felt like a playoff energy. And that’s crucial. More than the X and O’s, basically them wanting it and not only Rudy but the whole team as a group basically really wanted it,” commended Ginebra head coach Siot Tanquingcen.
“We needed this to have a chance in the playoffs,” Tanquingcen added.
The win propelled Ginebra to a third-place tie with Powerade at 4-3 as teams continue to fight their way to the playoffs.
“We fed off the energy from everybody else. It’s very rare that people outwork Talk ‘N Text, and that’s one of their strengths and tonight we made it a goal to do that,” said Hatfield.
Part of Hatfield’s 30-point night was a couple of long jumpers, shots teams usually dare him to take.
“If you’re Talk ‘N Text that’s what you’re going to give up. If you’re going to play a seven-game series, you’re going to keep on giving me that shot. Obviously they played the percentages, I might make it sometime and sometimes I might not and that’s the kind of thing that you do,” said Hatfield.
“It’s a good game plan it just so happened that tonight, it was my night. I don’t really shoot jump shots but when it went in it felt good,” Hatfield continued.
