MANILA – Raymond Almazan promised to make it up to Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the 2019 PBA Philippine Cup after going absent without leave (AWOL) from the team in the 2018 PBA Governors’ Cup.
The 6-foot-8 center said that he is thankful to the Painters management for giving him another chance and is excited to help the team to have a good showing in the All-Filipino Conference.
“‘Yung mga nangyari last year, past na yon. Move forward na,” said Almazan. “Siyempre gusto ko talagang makabawi especially sa team, sa management, kasi nakakahiya ‘yung ganung pangyayari.”
The former Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights center added: “All good naman na. Excited talaga ako maglaro. Matagal din kasi ako di nakapaglaro eh, almost four months.”
Almazan went AWOL from the team after having differences with Painters head coach Carlos Garcia. The misunderstanding was immediately fixed but the disgruntled center was still slapped with a team suspension last year.
Now that he is back with the team, Almazan has promised to act mature this time and become one of the team’s leaders following the retirement of guard Chris Tiu during the offseason.
“I will be more of a leader na sa team this season since wala na si Chris,” Almazan said. “Siyempre alam naman natin si Chris ang team leader sa loob ng court. Mahirap maghanap ng ganung klaseng player. Mataas ang basketball IQ.”
He added: “Si Chris hindi athletic, hindi mabilis, pero matalino maglaro. Sana lang ma-fill-up ng mga rookie namin (Javee Mocon and Rodolfo Alejandro) ‘yung gap na naiwan ni Chris.”/PN
