By JONAS TERRADO
CJ Perez understands that his very remote chances of winning the Best Player of the Conference in the PBA Awards Night give Terrafirma’s lowly performance in the PBA Philippine Cup bubble.
The sophomore guard is one of six candidates for the awards which will be handed in Sunday’s virtual ceremony, but the Dyip’s 1-10 showing in Pampanga have ruled Perez out of consideration for the top individual honor.
“Sobrang grateful pa rin ako at nakarating na ako sa mga ganitong stage,” Perez said in a recent interview with One Sports’ The Game. “Pero hindi pa ako satisfied. Mas nasa isip ko yung sa wins.”
Perez had another outstanding showing after topping the league in scoring with an average of 24.4 points. He also produced 6.8 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.0 steals in order to finish the Statistical Points derby in third with 35.7.
Those stats were an improvement from 2019 when he won Rookie of the Year honors and was named to the Mythical First Team. Perez averaged 20.8 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.9 steals in 33 games.
But those numbers were put to naught after a campaign that saw Terrafirma lose its first seven games before prevailing over Blackwater to end its winless run.
“Kailangan lang siguro namin masustain yung laro namin kasi first to third maganda yung pinapakita namin, tas sa endgame lang kami nadadali lagi,” Perez said.
“Siguro lack of experience or minsan nashoshort kami sa effort sa fourth quarter. Siguro yun kailangan naming iimprove, yung tapusin namin yung game sa fourth quarter,” the former Lyceum star added.
Terrafirma will pick first in the Rookie Draft set March 14, giving Perez and the rest of the team a chance to add another high-caliber player to help turn the fortunes around.
