MANILA, Philippines – Christmas Day offered plenty of learning opportunities for rookie point guard Jiovani Jalalon of the Star Hotshots.
The former Arellano University star struggled mightily in his first Christmas Day game, which doubled as his first-ever Manila Clasico experience. Not only did the Hotshots lose to rivals Barangay Ginebra, 79-86, but Jalalon failed to make much of an impact and fell way short of matching the production of his good friend, Scottie Thompson.
In a stint that lasted nearly 25 minutes, Jalalon bricked all 10 of his attempts from the field. He did have six rebounds and five assists, but also committed three turnovers. He did help limit LA Tenorio to 2-of-12 shooting, but struggled with foul trouble and wound up scoreless himself.
"Gigil ako eh," Jalalon admitted after the game. "Hindi ako ready sa pagpasok ko, nanggigil ako bigla. That's why pagkakuha ko ng first foul ko, gusto ko bumawi agad."
According to Jalalon, it is the first time he has gone scoreless in a game. Though he maintains that his primary focus is defense, he will still take the lessons he learned from his poor outing against the Gin Kings.
"Sabi (ni coach) sa akin, 'Ngayon, alam mo na.' Lesson learned talaga ito sa akin, kaya naging excited ako masyado. 'Yun ang natutunan ko," he said.
Jalalon admits that he felt some pressure playing in a big game and in such a big venue, but stressed that he was not bothered by the Ginebra fans who packed the Philippine Arena on Christmas Day.
"Hindi ko na iniisip 'yung mga fans. Ang iniisip ko lang 'yung game plan namin," he insisted. "'Yun lang 'yung iniisip ko."
The loss to Ginebra dropped Star's record to 3-3 and snapped their three-game winning streak.
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