PBA: Lighthearted banter between previous rivals helps Northport rookies gel

NorthPort Batang Pier coach Bonnie Tan. –PBA IMAGES

MANILA, Philippines—Familiarity breeds contempt however that wasn’t the case for Northport’s latest set of younger rookies within the PBA.

After happening quite a few battles in final 12 months’s NCAA Season 98 match, Letran’s Fran Yu and Brent Paraiso, Arellano’s Cade Flores and Jose Rizal College’s John Amores now share the identical jersey for Batang Pier.

So once they all met for the group’s first apply, the quartet threw jokes round one another within the identify of excellent and lighthearted banter.

“Oh, it was nothing a lot once they got here to apply, we simply laughed and talked it out,” shared Yu in Filipino.

“We informed them, ‘oh, we beat you,’ or ‘hey, he beat you,’ simply mild insults however the bond was mechanically there as a result of all of us already battled in faculty,” added the Letran product.

Their newfound bond was actually of huge assist for Batang Pier as they squeaked previous Terrafirma, 108-103, to start their bid for the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at Araneta Coliseum on Friday.

So as to add to the rookies’ familiarity with the group, high coach Bonnie Tan was the shot caller for the Knights final season earlier than formally taking the publish as Northport’s head tactician.

With that, it wasn’t shocking that Tan used all his new weapons effectively, with everybody getting minutes.

“They’re actually part of the rotation so I discussed to my coaches within the endgame that we must always have three rookies contained in the courtroom ending the sport,” defined the long-time Letran mentor.

“The phrase ‘battle’ isn’t acceptable for them as a result of they’ve identified one another for the longest time already. It’s good that they stepped up.”

NorthPort’s Cade Flores. –PBA IMAGES

Cade Flores had the very best outing in comparison with his NCAA brethren with a close to double-double to the tune of 9 factors and 12 rebounds.

The guard tandem from Intramuros, Yu and Paraiso, completed with 5 factors every, profiting from their 20-minute exposures.

Amores solely had three markers within the victory however was fielded for over eight minutes.

Up subsequent for the younger Northport squad is Rain or Shine, which narrowly misplaced its season-opener in opposition to Meralco, on Sunday at Ynares Middle, Antipolo.