TNT forward Calvin Oftana. PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines—From becoming a fixture in the Gilas Pilipinas program to cracking the All-Star selection for the first time in his young PBA career, Calvin Oftana is having quite the season.
As grateful as he is for the breaks coming his way, Oftana, however, is not letting his foot off the gas.
“Happy but not contended,” he said in Filipino during a short chat with the reporters on Friday, after helping TNT book a Finals date with defending Governors’ Cup champion Barangay Ginebra.
“The job’s not done. This is what we’ve been hoping for and we need to work on it,” he added on the heels of a 21-point outing to help finish off Meralco, 107-92, in Game 4 of the semifinals.
Acquired by the Tropang Giga in September last year, Oftana carried over his fine play from NLEX to become an integral cog for Chot Reyes and Jojo Lastimosa.
The 27-year-old has been averaging 13.67 points to become the third-finest local for the club behind gunners Roger Pogoy and Mikey Williams this conference. He also has 8.4 rebounds and 3.11 assists to his name throughout this third conference.
Oftana said he is looking to sustain his play when TNT tackles the crowd darlings in a best-of-seven series that begins this Easter Sunday.
And making him even more eager to do so is the uneasy feeling brought upon by the last campaign.
“Last conference, we were at the bottom. We were down,” he said, referring to Tropang Giga’s 4-8 finish in the Commissioner’s Cup.
“Here we are now in the Finals. And it’s neat that we’re not content with this,” he said. “We are going to work for it (a championship).”