FILE – San Sebastian Stags. Photo from Filoil
MANILA, Philippines—San Sebastian will be without its star big man JM Calma in the upcoming NCAA Season 98.
With the spot of a veteran leader up in the air, Jessie Sumoda is ready to answer the call of Stags’ head coach Egay Macaraya.
“I’m always ready for whatever the coaches want me to do. I’m one of the veterans now, Ichie [Altamirano] is still there, but I’ll always take what the coaches give me,” Sumoda said.
In a play usually designed for Calma, Sumoda drove down the lane and powered his way for a tough basket to give the Stags the 59-55 victory over Jose Rizal University that secured them a spot in the Filoil EcoOil Preseason Cup quarterfinals on Saturday.
“Coach talked to me yesterday and he told me to guide my team, so on the last play I talked to Scoob [Escobido] and I told him to execute the play coach drew for us,” he recalled.
Sumoda’s preseason campaign could be a good indication of a breakout year for him in the new NCAA season after averaging just 6.5 points and 6.7 rebounds per game last season.
Macaraya, however, prefers seeing everyone step up next season and not just Sumoda to avoid a repeat of what happened before when Calma was on board where the Stags relied too much on their go-to guy.
“It will be a good thing if everyone steps up and everybody makes [shots]. As I’ve said our scoring is now balanced, there’s no more 24 points by JM Calma, there are now 10, 12, 16, [points], but everybody should contribute,” Macaraya said.
The Stags face a big test against the undefeated National University Bulldogs in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.