Back in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup, when the Macau Giant Pandas were still known as the Black Knights, Jenning Leung showed out and impressed Filipino hoops fans with his sweet shooting and well-rounded game. Unfortunately, he missed the Giant Pandas’ first four games this conference—all losses.
But, on Saturday, literally fresh from the plane, Leung returned and reminded everyone why he is one of Macau’s best players. It probably is no coincidence the Giant Pandas recorded their first win of the conference via a 132-126 come-from-behind victory against the Titan Ultra Giant Risers in a battle of “giants.”
Jenning Leung Needed Some Prodding
While Jenning Leung finished with 22 points and 7 assists, his return was anything but smooth. In fact, he was turning down shots and was mostly passive in the first half—a far cry from the assertive, scoring-conscious player who made his mark last tournament. That left Macau head coach Marcus Elliott with no choice but to admonish Leung at halftime.
“Jenning is a team player, always has a great attitude. [But] he was being too passive in the first half,” Elliott said in the postgame presser at the Ynares Center in Antipolo. “It’s like he came in, he didn’t want to step on any toes, and I basically just had to tell him like, ‘Stop being too nice. We need you to put your foot on the pedal, be aggressive, look for yours…’”
Jenning Leung responded—meekly at first—by being a playmaker on pick-and-rolls. That wasn’t enough for Elliott.
“He did a good job finding Ray [Cao] and some of the bigs on the pick-and-roll, being aggressive. But after that, I got mad at him late in the third and told him, ‘Look, don’t pass that again. Go get your layup,’” Elliott added. “Then he started to snowball from there in a good way.”
A Jenning Leung Takeover
It snowballed for Jenning Leung for sure. He ended the third by firing five points in a 9-2 spurt that helped Macau regain the lead, 95-94, heading to the final frame. Then, the sweet-shooting guard fired 14 more in the fourth—including nine straight at one point—to help the Giant Pandas widen their lead.
Needless to say, Leung’s scorching second half keyed Macau’s first win. And Marcus Elliott can only hope that his starting two-guard continues to be aggressive in the coming games.
After all, Jenning Leung is too good to be passing up shots.
