Thirdy Ravena breathes sigh of relief after ending scoring struggles
Thirdy Ravena. PHOTO from Twitter
MANILA, Philippines—It took a while but Ateneo rookie Thirdy Ravena finally saw the ball go through the net as it left his hands.
“Finally,” Ravena said with a smile as he let out a deep breath. “I just thought to myself ‘thank you Lord I was able to make a shot after four games.'”
“I’m just happy. But I didn’t have time to think about it too much and I thought about the next play because it doesn’t end there. I need to run back at the other end and play defense,” Ravena added.
Ravena came into the game against Far Eastern University scoreless after four games. But it didn’t take long for Ravena to register his first points last Sunday.
The 6-foot-2 Ravena shook off Tamaraws guard Mike Tolomia before hitting a layup for his first basket in his collegiate career at the 8:34 mark of the second quarter in the Blue Eagles thrilling 81-78 win.
“I’m very happy that I was able to play without feeling nervous. Before I always play out of control and I don’t know what I was doing inside the court,” Ravena said in Filipino.
“But now, at least I was able to slow down and think what’s happening inside.”
The former high school MVP Ravena finished with four points and five rebounds in 13 minutes of play.
And his head coach Bo Perasol wouldn’t let his efforts go unnoticed.
“Honorable mention goes to Thirdy and Gwyne Capacio,” Perasol commended. “They were able to contribute when we needed it the most, the energy and also some production from Thirdy.”
Ravena also took on the challenge of defending Tolomia, one of the Tamaraws’ main weapons.
“Well, Mike’s very hard to guard because he’s so shifty and even earlier you saw I felt rattled when I’m defending him. He really serves as a challenge to me and at the very least, I was able to make it hard for him,” said Ravena.
Ravena also credits his older brother Kiefer for giving him some pointers on how to deal with his slight struggles to start the season.
“My brother’s been helping me a lot. He tells me to just stay in the game. Just think of what’s happening before you react and find a way to help the team.”
“Thirdy was able to come out of his shell. I’m very happy for him as a brother,” Kiefer said after leading the way for the Blue Eagles with 23 points and seven assists.
Apart from not being able to contribute in his first several games, the younger Ravena also didn’t log a single second in a loss to National University.
But not even that instance of getting benched could take away anything from the swingman’s confidence and faith in himself and Perasol.
“Honestly, whatever coach tells me I’ll be ready. I always keep myself ready and I just have to trust him,” he said.
“Coming into the game, I didn’t really think about scoring. I just want to focus. If I’ll play for only one minute then I’d pour everything out and if he needs me to score, I’ll try to score no matter what.”
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