Rain or Shine rookie Adrian Nocum in the PBA Philippine Cup. –PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines—Rain or Shine rookie Adrian Nocum barely cracked a smile after his team succumbed to Meralco in overtime, 121-117, in the PBA Philippine Cup at Araneta Coliseum on Saturday.
Nocum could cut himself some slack. After all, he tallied a career-high 29 points to go with five rebounds, four steals and two assists.
Yet he showed no signs of celebrating his positive feat and instead lamented the loss that put Rain or Shine in a 0-2 predicament in the young conference.
SCHEDULE: 2024 PBA Philippine Cup
“My points, they don’t matter because we lost. Coach (Yeng Guiao) always tells us that we’re not kids anymore. We should know how to play in this league and we need to be accountable. If we can’t help, we shouldn’t be dead weight,” said the newcomer in Filipino.
Tough luck, rookie. 😕
WATCH: Rain Or Shine’s Adrian Nocum shrugs off his career night of 29 points after losing to Meralco in overtime. | @MeloFuertesINQ pic.twitter.com/CI0ud2uj7L
— INQUIRER Sports (@INQUIRERSports) March 2, 2024
“I still need to do [improve] especially on defense. Earlier, Bong [Quint] just bumped me a little bit and he was able hit a three on me. I should’ve known that already because that’s crucial.”
Nocum was unable to contain Quinto as his matchup with the latter finishing with 16 points.
READ: PBA: Clutch Bong Quinto carries Meralco to OT win over Rain or Shine
But what hurt Nocum and the Elasto Painters the most was the timely explosion of Allein Maliksi, who finished with 26 explosive points to put the Bolts in the win column.
Nocum said seeing many players on the opposition score at will is a point of emphasis for him to keep on working, especially on the defensive end.
“I need to adjust a lot about myself. Despite this, a career-high 29 points, it doesn’t matter. We lost.”
The Mapua product played just seven games in his first conference in the PBA, logging 9.1 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game in the Commissioner’s Cup.