King hopes to redeem self in Elite’s final 2 games

Blackwater’s import Keala King. PBA IMAGES

Keala King could not hide his disappointment with his debut Blackwater.

Struggling to find his footing, the former Arizona State standout finished with 14 points and eight rebounds as Blackwater suffered its seventh straight defeat, 93-81 to Phoenix on Wednesday.

“I’m just mad at myself right now because I let myself down. I didn’t like to lose,” he said.

King said he anticipated the physical play in the PBA but just couldn’t get his groove as Eugene Phelps and Phoenix came away with the hard fought victory.

“I knew they were going to play physical,” he said. “I just wished we won. I struggled though I tried to play how coaches want me to play.”

King replaced Elite’s injured reinforcement Eric Dawson.

Though Blackwater kept in step with Phoenix in the first half, it couldn’t sustain the energy until the final buzzer as it formally bowed out of the playoff race in the 2016 PBA Governors’ Cup with a cellar dwelling 1-8 record.

His callup may have come a little too late, but King is still aching to show his true game with two more games left in the Elite’s schedule.

“I just need to go home and get back to the drawing board,” he said. “Basically, I’ll change some things that I didn’t do in this game and try to do it next game.”

Blackwater faces GlobalPort next Wednesday.