He spends less time from 30 feet now.
From college to Gilas Pilipinas, Isaac Go had been used to being utilized as a stretch big. But it’s different with the Terrafirma Dyip in the PBA.
In a league where a 6-foot-7 big like Go is a towering presence, he is tasked to play in the post most of the time.
“I’ve always had that [inside game]. That’s been the point of the coaching staff because they knew that me, Aldrech [Ramos], lahat kami stretch bigs. So they’ve noticed na we can’t always rely on that (long range shots) because what if it doesn’t fall?” said Go, who added left-handed hook shots in his arsenal.
While modern basketball leans towards the small ball, teams with dominant big men still thrive, if not dominate, in the first play-for-pay league in Asia.
The powerhouse San Miguel Beermen have six-time MVP June Mar Fajardo. Barangay Ginebra San Miguel have Christian Standhardinger and Japeth Aguilar. Get the picture?
“Dapat inside-out, never naman outside-in. There’s that push from the coaches and the players as well, that we wanna start looking for our bigs inside, even the guards want to go inside, it just makes the offense a lot more difficult to guard,” he said.
The former Ateneo Blue Eagle has yet to be in tip-top form coming from an ACL injury. He admitted his return from injury was rushed.
“I think medyo nagmadali ‘yung schedule kasi ‘yun nga I got cleared April, last week of April, tapos we started [PBA On Tour] May agad. I think ideal situation you’d want more practice time,” he said.
“Makikita mo sa NBA na ang tagal bago ma-clear e. But that’s out of my control. I wanted to play also. Matigas ulo ko.”
Still he’s putting up decent figures in the preseason tournament, norming 9.6 points and 6.6 rebounds as the Dyip tallied 4 wins so far—leapfrogging their win total from the previous PBA season.
This doesn’t mean he’s abandoning long-range shots. Go said it is something he’s still trying to regain after logging 30.3 percent from the three-point area.
“Shot isn’t as pino. I have to be 40 percent from 3, averaging 5 offensive rebounds. Right now that’s super unattainable but ‘yan ‘yung [goal], you have to get to that level that you’re able to compete night in and night out and produce,” he said.
(GM)