It seems the six-time MVP has Rak en Rol's number.
One-on-ones are a sure way to spice up basketball practice, especially for a team loaded with talent — like Gilas Pilipinas.
And it appears that Gilas practices are, indeed, getting a jolt of added excitement thanks to the players playing some rounds of pre-practice one-on-ones. No less than national team coach Chot Reyes is seeing these mini-battles, and it looks like he has some videos to show forth.
In fact, Reyes recently posted via Instagram a video clip of a pair of Gilas players going head-to-head: big men June Mar Fajardo and Raymond Almazon. The clip, which was about only 10 seconds long, show the Gilas mainstays renewing their PBA rivalry — but with a twist. This time around, the two big men weren’t jockeying for position at the post. Instead, they are a bit farther away from the basket, with the seven-time MVP facing up and looking to take Almazan off the dribble.
The Meralco big man locks down Fajardo, getting in The Kraken’s airspace and forcing him to pick up his dribble. But, as he has so often done in the PBA, Fajardo eventually figures out a way to outfox his rival, faking, pivoting, and then taking a fadeaway jumper.
It was all net, of course, much to the chagrin of Almazan.
Fajardo and Almazan’s little one-on-one was one of the highlights of Gilas’ second practice for the sixth window, to be held here on home soil. The two bigs were among several national team members present in Gilas’ second practice, along with Justin Brownlee, Japeth Aguilar, Jamie Malonzo, Chris Newsome, Calvin Oftana, RR Pogoy, Cjay Perez, Schonny Winston, Mason Amos, and Jerom Lastimosa.