The Terrafirma Dyip are 2-0 in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup thanks mainly to the otherworldly performance of Mubashar Ali on Saturday, when he put up 50 points and 25 rebounds in the Dyip’s stunning 111-100 victory over the Converge FiberXers.
After the game, however, the soft-spoken 7-footer deflected all the credit to his teammates and coaches, noting none of his efforts would’ve been possible “without those guys.” He did so in his Best Player of the Game interview right after the game, and he did it again in the postgame presser, where he again showered love on everyone save for himself.
“Just wanna give a shoutout to my teammates. First half I was fasting, I couldn’t really breathe. I was going up and down trying to do my best,” Mubashar Ali admitted. “But if it wasn’t for my teammates that was helping me carry the load and trusting me to just keep on performing and just keep on doing what I can do to help the team, shout out to them. Nothing would be possible without those guys.”
Ali kept performing, all right, and after scoring 25 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, he had led Terrafirma to something the franchise has done only once in its PBA stint: start a conference with two straight wins.
“We’ve got special guys in the locker room. That whole 50 and everything, that came from them and the coaches’ trust and belief in me,” Ali stressed.
Mubashar Ali, Rest of Dyip Banding Together—and to Good Results
Ali is so stoked about his team that he sees a bright future for a squad whose history is marked by futility.
“We got a bright future,” Ali deadpanned. “We got a lot of guys on the team, we got a mixture of vets, we’ve got some young guys that’s really hungry. We’ve got some experienced guys. The whole point is, thanks to the staff, our head coach, our assistant coaches, everybody as a whole, they’re bringing this good environment, fun environment to work in… Main thing is to stay together.”
That eclectic mix of veterans and hungry young talent, reinforced by an unassuming but talented Mubashar Ali, has gotten the job done so far. And it looks like this run of success might just have a chance to be real this time.
