Rookie guard Ljay Gonzales is proving to be a pretty good player for the NLEX Road Warriors. And for Jimmy Alapag, himself a legendary guard, the former FEU Tamaraw is a star in the making—if he isn’t already.
Ljay Gonzales Takes Over for NLEX
On Tuesday, in NLEX’s gritty 118-111 overtime win over the TNT Tropang 5G, Gonzales certainly played like one, finishing with a career-high 26 points, of which 14 came in the fourth quarter and extra time.
“It was a lost game there at the end, but again, Berto [Robert Bolick], he’s been an elite point guard in this league for a long time, and it’s been great to see his growth through these first eight games. He hits a big-time shot. Of course, the guy next to me, Ljay, was huge down the stretch,” Alapag said after NLEX’s escape act. “End of the third, entire fourth, in overtime, just making big play after big play. I think Ljay’s putting the PBA on notice that we’re not just a team with two guards, but we also have another star in the making coming up…”
Ljay Gonzales certainly was huge down the stretch for the Road Warriors. He scored eight points in the fourth quarter, just as TNT looked primed to take control of the game. He then added six more in OT to make sure Bolick’s end-of-regulation heroics would end up in a win.
Hard Work Key to Ljay Gonzales’s Emergence
After a solid first conference in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup, where he averaged 7.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.3 assists, Ljay Gonzales has only gotten better in this Governors’ Cup, upping his scoring to 11.3 points per game on top of 3.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists. Alapag isn’t the least bit surprised, pointing to the rookie’s tremendous work ethic as his defining trait.
“I wish you guys could see his work ethic,” Alapag told reporters. “I remember in the States, Coach Bobby Jackson used to always tell our players, your spirit has to be in the right place, playing the right way, coming in, ready to work hard. He fits that statement perfectly. Every morning, I make it a point to come to practice, and when I’m there, he’s already there working out.”
All that extra work, according to The Captain, “just speaks to the player that Ljay is and the player that he’s becoming.”
And, in only his second conference in the big league, Ljay Gonzales is sure becoming a pretty special player.
