MANILA – After getting saddled with injury at the latter part of the Philippine Cup, James Yap is slowly getting his game back as he played key roles in Rain or Shine Elasto Painters’ two wins so far in the Commissioner’s Cup.
Yap unloaded 12 points in their 109-103 win over Alaska Aces last Friday and 13 – including three triples – in their 108-89 rout of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings on Sunday night.
“Malaking bagay ito. Lahat ng pinaghirapan mo sa pagpapa-kundisyon at least nagbubunga,” said the 36-year-old native of Escalante City, Negros Occidental.
“So pagpatuloy ko pa rin iyong ginagawa ko or hihigitan pa para kahit paano ma-sustain or mahigitan pa ito,” he said.
Aside from outside shooting and flashy drives, the two-time PBA MVP is also developing a new facet of his game with his improved defense, as shown in his two steals in their game against Kings.
“James (Yap) has been working hard on his shots every day, but one thing that’s good today is he played excellent defense,” said Painters head coach Carlos Garcia. “He was the one na naghe-help when the import was having a problem on the other side.”
Yap said he also made sure his game was not affected by personal issues that hounded him following his controversial Instragram birthday greeting for son Bimby.
“Lagi ko naman sinasabi na pag merong mga ganyan, mga personal, kailangan pag dating dito sa Araneta, sa trabaho, kumbaga sa home court, iiwan mo iyon sa bahay, iyong problema,” Yap said. “Ganoon naman ginagawa ko ever since, siguro sanay na.”
He added: “Professional naman ako so kailangan … focus ka sa game. Kasi basketball kailangan focused talaga e, iyon iyong nagdadala. Ina-apply ko lang iyong experience ko before, OK naman.”/PN
