The Magnolia Hotshots needed a strong close to the first half of the PBA Governors’ Cup. Point guard Jerom Lastimosa delivered it in the most emphatic way he could.
The Hotshots guard dropped a career-high 30 points last Wednesday, leading Magnolia to a 115-101 win over the Phoenix Fuel Masters that extended the team’s winning streak to three straight games, a real turnaround after an early 1-3 start to the conference. The performance was efficient as much as it was prolific as Lastimosa shot 11-of-14 from the field while adding 3 assists and 2 steals. Crucially, it was more than enough to earn the former Adamson Falcon the PBA Press Corps Player of the Week award for August 11–14, edging out Justin Arana of the Converge FiberXers and Chris Newsome of the Meralco Bolts.
Lastimosa Is Starting to Get It
For Magnolia coach LA Tenorio, though, the scoring output almost wasn’t the headline. He pointed instead to Lastimosa’s defense as the real driver behind his growth, admitting that the young guard has become the player he leans on hardest—and pushes hardest, too.
“Buti nagre-respond siya,” Tenorio said. “Alam ng mga players na siya ang madalas ko pagalitan because I know ‘yung kaya niyang gawin sa team na ‘to. Sabi ko sa kanya na it’s his responsibility now na matuto siya. May mangyari sa team sa loob ng team o wala, siya ang pagagalitan ko.”
Lastimosa, for his part, isn’t bothered by being singled out. If anything, he’s embraced it as part of the process.
“Doon naman tayo matututo,” he said. “I never take for granted na nagagalit si coach sa akin. It means, may pakialam siya at gusto lang niya ma-improve pa ‘yung laro ko.”
It’s a dynamic that clearly worked this week—a coach demanding more, and a player answering with a career night right as his team needed it most heading into the league’s six-week break.
