Still a long way back, says Terrence Romeo of return to old form

Terrence Romeo (with ball) goes for two of his 27 points against Phoenix center Raul Soyud. —PBA IMAGES

Terrence Romeo feels there’s plenty of work that needs to be done to get back into form even after putting a 27-point showing in San Miguel Beer’s debut in the two-month PBA On Tour exhibition series.

“I still have a long way to go,” Romeo said in Filipino after the Beermen’s 106-101 loss to the Phoenix Fuel Masters on Wednesday at Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.

He made 12 of 23 shots and added five rebounds and seven assists in 38 minutes, a significant amount of floor time Romeo has not seen because of a back injury that forced the former scoring champion on the sidelines for most of the last three conferences.

Coach Jorge Gallent opted to give Romeo as much exposure as needed in the On Tour opener, a perfect setting to prepare the veteran guard for what’s in store for the 48th season slated in October.

There were glimpses of the Romeo of old, posting 16 in the first half, though he was the first to admit that he’ll have to wait before getting his timing back during the series.

“I told Coach Jorge that I should not rush myself to go hard since it’s the first time I played this long in [one and a half] years,” he said. “So tried to get my movement and my feel into the game until I was able to feel comfortable on the court.”

Romeo appeared in just nine games between the season-ending 2021-22 Governors’ Cup and the recent Governors’ Cup for the Beermen.

Window of opportunity

San Miguel also opened the series by giving opportunities to its role players with June Mar Fajardo, CJ Perez, Marcio Lassiter, Simon Enciso and Chris Ross not seeing action against Phoenix.

Aside from Romeo, heavy minutes were given to Allyn Bulanadi, Rodney Brondial and Robbie Herndon, who added 21 points.

Center Nonoy Baclao, joining the team after a couple of seasons with Meralco, plus Chester Saldua and Marvin Lee from San Miguel’s 3×3 team were also given ample playing time in hopes of cracking a spot in the talent-laden roster.