MANILA – After being left unsigned by his former Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) D-League team, Cebuano guard Eliud Poligrates is eager to prove his worth for the Rizal-Xentro Mall Golden Coolers in the fourth season of the Chooks-to-Go Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL).
Poligrates said that he is motivated to show his wares in his one-year stint with the Golden Coolers and to make the Marinerong Pilipino Skippers feel that they are wrong about not extending his contract for the new PBA D-League season.
“Sana maipakita ko sa kanila na nagkamali sila sa pinili nilang desisyon,” said Poligrates, who had a solid season with the Skippers in the last PBA D-League season. He even scored a league-record of 67 points for the team – paving way for him to be named as the Most Valuable Player in the competition.
“Sa Rizal, sabi ko naman sa kanila, kung pagbibigyan nila ako ng pagkakataon para ipakita kung anong laro ko, yun,” added the Cebuano guard, who also played for the MPBL teams Cebu City-Casino Ethyl Alcohol and Val City Carga Backload Solution before.
The 32-year-old Poligrates isn’t losing sight of his main goal, however, which is to help the Golden Coolers improve their win-loss card in the MPBL following a dismal 2019-2020 Lakan Cup, where they finished with a 7-22 record.
“Mas gusto ko ‘yung alanganin na team para, kumbaga, kung maaangat ko ‘to, sama-sama kami lahat. Hindi naman tayo si Superman na kaya natin buhatin lahat, ‘di ba?,” Poligrates said.
“Magtutulungan kami, para ‘yung pangalan namin mabango ulit kung maiaangat namin ‘tong team na ‘to. Pagtutulungan namin. Sinasabi ko lang din sa coaches, tulong-tulong kami,” he added./PN
