Meralco Bolts’ Bong Quinto in the PBA Philippine Cup. -PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines—With how Bong Quinto has been performing for Meralco, coach Luigi Trillo sees a future PBA All-Star appearance for the budding forward.
After the Bolts’ 86-83 squeaker over Terrafirma in the PBA Philippine Cup at Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday, Trillo lauded one of his young guns and said he “should be” in a league All-Star game soon.
“He should be there. Hopefully, fans can vote for him. He’s been with us so much and he deserves to be there. Hopefully, one day he will. In terms of what he’s done to the program, I vouch for Bong,” said Trillo.
READ: PBA: Bong Quinto, Meralco scrape past Terrafirma
“Palagi na lang si Raymond (Almazan), e. Ibang Letranista naman,” he added in jest. (It’s always Raymond who’s selected. Let’s pick a different Letranite.)
Quinto didn’t make the cut in the recently concluded All-Star festivities in Bacolod a few weeks ago but even without the recognition, the Letran product has been performing quite like an All-Star.
In their win over Dyip, Quinto dropped 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists which helped the Bolts pull away and improve to a 3-3 record.
So does he, himself, think he’s deserving of an All-Star spot?
READ: PBA: Clutch Bong Quinto carries Meralco to OT win over Rain or Shine
If Quinto has anything to say about it, he’ll simply take whatever’s given to him. If no selection comes his way, then he’ll just keep grinding to get there eventually.
“Like what Comm. (Willie Marcial) said before, everyone who goes to the All-Star game is deserving but, of course, who wouldn’t want to be voted in events like those? That’s a privilege and a huge opportunity. Whatever the Lord gives me, I’ll just grab it,” said Quinto.
The 29-year-old swingman didn’t just show that he’s an All-Star caliber player on Wednesday, he also showed his clutch genes.
In the last two minutes of the game, Quinto scored all of Meralco’s points, including a triple, a layup and free throws to match.
However, Quinto doesn’t want that stat line to fool anybody as he missed two of his four shots in the free throw line in the dying seconds of the bout.
“In my four shots, only two went in. That can’t be because that’s too crucial… So my focus is really to start on defense.”