Having been around for so long, Air21 coach Yeng Guiao can’t be easily impressed.
Yet Ronjay Buenafe managed to astound even his wizened coach by displaying the fruits of his hard labors on a night the Express direly needed a win in the PBA Philippine Cup.
Buenafe scattered 25 points on 8-for-13 field goal shooting, powering Air21 to an 86-83 squeaker over previously unbeaten Alaska last Friday and earning for himself the Accel-PBA Press Corps Player of the Week honors for Oct. 18 to 24.
Ronnie Matias guided the Express home by scoring nine of his 16 points in the fourth period, but it was Buenafe who put them in a good position to win by making all but five of his three-point attempts and racking up 13 of his points in the third quarter to whittle the deficit to a very manageable 61-64.
The 6-foot-2 guard also wound up with three assists, a rebound, a steal and only two turnovers in 34 minutes. He also had a similar 25-point output two games before and it marked the third straight time he led the team in scoring, enabling the Express to improve its record to 2-2.
Those facts were not lost on Guiao, who has been coaching in the PBA since 1990.
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I am very happy for him. He’s been working on his game and he deserves it," said the four-time champion strategist who knows how to draw the most out of the talents his team has.
"
I’ve been pushing him very hard and he has accepted everything I’ve thrown at him. He’s improved his decision-making and he can still get better," Guiao said.
Such expectations–and living up to them–are nothing new for the former Emilio Aguinaldo College standout who made it to the league as the No. 11 pick by the Coca-Cola Tigers in the 2007 draft and traded to then-Burger King last season. Known as one of the best in open-court situations, Buenafe has improved each season and it is anticipated this one will be no different.
Buenafe proves worth for Express
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