Jamaal Franklin. PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines-The triple-double performance of import Jamaal Franklin in Converge’s win over Rain or Shine on Thursday became more remarkable with one significant number.
As it turned out, Franklin registered zero turnovers during the contest at Philsports Arena in Pasig City on a night he had his best-passing game since arriving in the second game of the PBA Governors’ Cup.
“That’s what’s up. That’s what I want to do,” Franklin said after the FiberXers’ 112-98 victory where he had 25 points, 13 rebounds and 15 assists.
Franklin turned the ball over a combined 11 times in victories over Terrafirma and Magnolia, and he was keen on at least lessening his mistakes going into the Rain or Shine matchup.
He got more than what was expected.
“Stats-wise, it’s my best passing game here,” he said. “But I was turning the ball over a lot and we’re always talking about the heart stats that people don’t have on a piece of paper.
“Today, that was my objective, to not turn the ball over. I’m more about turnovers than assists,” he added.
His desire to play the facilitator set up opportunities for the rest of the FiberXers, with rookie center Justine Arana leading the locals in scoring with 21 points.
“Coach [Aldin Ayo] stressed that the bigs will be open today,” Franklin said. “They did a good job trying to make sure I couldn’t shoot the ball, so I just found the open pass to the offense, and coach ran plays like high-low with Justine.
“Justine had one hell of a game, Abu [Tratter] had a productive game coming in (11 points and 10 rebounds). I had 15 assists, but I can’t make assists without my teammates making shots, so credit goes to them.”