by Jonas Terrado
Japeth Aguilar is lukewarm to the idea of competing in the future Slam Dunk competitions after providing a glimpse of what he can do in Sunday’s PBA All-Star Game in Calasiao, Pangasinan.
The Barangay Ginebra big man put on a dunking exhibition in front of a packed crowd on his way to leading the North to a 185-170 victory over the South and share Most Valuable Player honors with San Miguel Beer’s Arwind Santos.
Aguilar’s best dunk of the evening came when he leaped over the South’s June Mar Fajardo as if he was playing a game of “Luksong Baka,” another example of his capability to compete in the dunk competition.
Thoughts of him competing in the annual event surfaced after the All-Star festivities but Aguilar remained noncommittal.
“I don’t know,” Aguilar said. “Parang feeling ko kasi may edad na ako so I’m not sure.”
(“I don’t know if i can still compete since I’m getting old.”)
The 32-year-old participated in two Slam Dunk competitions but failed to reach the finals in his appearances in 2014 at the Mall of Asia Arena and 2015 in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.
“Ang ginawa ko naman sa game is mga power dunks, I don’t know if I could do some flair dunks.”
The dunk show allowed Aguilar to win his All-Star Game MVP award, a confidence booster ahead of the PBA Philippine Cup playoffs.
Aguilar and Ginebra have already locked the No. 3 seed and will face either Magnolia or NLEX in a best-of-three quarterfinal series which starts later this week.
