Thriving in new role, Romeo named Mr. Quality Minutes

Terrence Romeo. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines—There were doubts whether Terrence Romeo, one of the league’s most polarizing figures, can deliver in a reduced role when he was traded to San Miguel in 2018.

Romeo, a three-time Scoring Champion, proved his critics wrong after flourishing despite coming off the bench behind the formidable Beermen core.

Fully embracing his new role, Romeo earned him the Mr. Quality Minutes award to be given by the PBA Press Corps on March 16 at Novotel Manila in Cubao.

The explosive guard averaged just 12 points, far from his usual scoring numbers with his previous teams, but he did more than enough especially in the title rounds that made him even more valuable.

Romeo helped the Beermen win a pair of championships in the Philippine Cup and the Commissioner’s Cup, where he was the Finals MVP after he normed 14.8 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 4.3 assists against his former team TNT.

The 2019 season also saw the emergence of a young superstar in Columbian’s CJ Perez, who wasted little time in contending for an MVP plum in just his first year.

Perez led his class that included NorthPort’s Robert Bolick, Rain or Shine’s Javee Mocon, TNT’s Bobby Ray Parks Jr., and Alaska’s Abu Tratter.

Perez is also the season’s Scoring Champion when he averaged 20.8 points in the season.

The triple overtime thriller between NorthPort and NLEX in the do-or-die quarterfinals of the third conference was chosen as the season’s best game.

The Batang Pier went on to knock off the top seeded Road Warriors, 126-123, an epic match has garnered 1.5 million views online, coming second only to the 3.5 million views for Game 2 of the Governors’ Cup Finals between Barangay Ginebra and Meralco.