Playing behind accomplished veterans can be both a blessing and a curse. It can be a blessing because a young player can learn from his OGs and be eased into the limelight slowly but surely. It can be a course because there’s usually a pecking order where these same veterans are ahead in the depth chart.
For Henry Galinato Jr. of the TNT Tropang 5G, it looks like playing behind veterans like Kelly Williams, Poy Erram, and even Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser has been a blessing through and through. Yes, he has had to share minutes with these established players, but it looks like he’s learning the game from them at the same time.
Now, in Season 50, those learnings are showing. The 28-year-old man-mountain is playing the best ball of his young career and has become an integral part of TNT’s incredibly deep rotation, notably forming a fearsome front line with Williams, Erram, and Ganuelas-Rosser.
Just in his third season, Galinato is starting to play like a veteran himself—cool and composed, always playing within himself and never trying to do too much. He just comes in and does what’s expected of him, which is to clog the paint, get rebounds, defend, and finish at the rim.
Galinato’s emergence was none more evident than in Game 1 of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals, where he came off the bench and gave TNT 12 big points and some solid minutes guarding the inimitable nine-time MVP, June Mar Fajardo. Just last season, the Finals stage was too bright for Galinato; this season, he looks ready for it.
And he’s only going to get better.
