PBA: Hard work paying off for TNT rookie Henry Galinato

Henry Galinato.–PBA IMAGES

MANILA, Philippines—In November last year during the PBA Commissioner’s Cup, TNT got a lift from rookie Henry Galinato to defeat Terrafirma, 133-93, under coach Jojo Lastimosa.

Galinato was the best player of that game with 16 points and five rebounds but Lastimosa was very much vocal about the bruiser’s room for improvement.

“He’s still in the strengthening phase. His glutes, quads and legs are weak. For such an athletic guy, his lower body is weak compared to his upper body,” said the then-head coach of Tropang Giga.

SCHEDULE: PBA Philippine Cup 2024

Four months later in the Philippine Cup, Galinato shone again against the same opponent.

“Oh yeah, that,” Galinato said in jest when he reread Lastimosa’s sentiments a few months back.

“I’m not going to say I’m a hundred percent there yet, but I feel like I made some big progress from where I started. I think losing some weight helped out too. I was a little heavier back then. I could say I’m proud of the work I’ve put in these past few months,” said Galinato after TNT’s 100-97 squeaker over Terrafirma at Araneta Coliseum on Saturday.

“I’m getting there.”

The University of the Philippines product proved his mettle with 17 points and 11 rebounds against the opposition which boasted the frontcourt of Javi Gomez de Liaño, Isaac Go and Aldrech Ramos.

Galinato was also efficient in the field with a 55 percent shooting clip, making five of his nine tries.

Contrary to what Lastimosa said a few months ago, current tactician Chot Reyes said the stocky big man got much stronger than before.

“What you’re seeing now is the hard work he put in behind the scenes and I’m not even referring to our practice. I’m referring to before, after and during practice. During the break, he stayed [in the country], he didn’t leave and go anywhere because he worked with our strength and conditioning coaches to get in shape, get his legs stronger and it continued,” said Reyes.

But while he was peppered with praises, there’s still much work to be done.

Luckily for the 15th overall pick in the 2023 PBA Draft, he has the perfect tools to get there in the form of veteran Poy Erram and Ranidel De Ocampo.

“I feel like I need to work on my footwork, honestly. I’m working on it and having Poy and coach Ranidel helps out. Coach Ranidel is one of the best PBA players to play and just having him there doing work with him before and after practice really helps.”