Pop’s double-barrelled threat is week’s best

Three players have drawn praises from their coaches recently.

But only one truly stood out.

Pop Cola forward Rudy Hatfield, his string of double-doubles snapped just once so far in the Philippine Basketball Association All-Filipino Cup, was named Player of the Week by sports scribes for the span of March 26 to April 1.

And nobody was surprised when Hatfield won the citation unanimously, beating a pair of players who came up with coming-out games in the same week.

The 6-3 rebounding demon was instrumental in giving Pop Cola a shot at a top four entering the quarterfinals with a 93-90 triumph over Alaska.

Hatfield had 24 points and 23 rebounds in that game, and more importantly, had four points and three big offensive boards under the 2:30 mark to cool down an Alaska rally in the fourth quarter.

Those 23 rebounds were a career-high, and that marked the first time a player scored a 20-20 this season. Fittingly, that player was Hatfield, who has a run of double-doubles in this conference.

In fact, in Pop Cola’s 12 assignments in the elimination round, Hatfield has missed a double-double just once, shooting 17 points and grabbing nine rebounds against Ginebra, which the Panthers eventually won.

"Rudy played really great and his work off the boards helped us sustain our run," said coach Chot Reyes, who managed to reserve some praise for Hatfield in a game where the focus was on Johnny Abarrientos and Poch Juinio.

Abarrientos and Juinio played against their former team.

Even Alaska coach Tim Cone admitted that Hatfield’s work off the boards helped seal the Aces doom.

"We just couldn’t keep him off the boards," Cone said.

Hatfield and Nelson Asaytono, who came off the bench to score 22 for Pop Cola, helped the Panthers win over Alaska for the first time in the last two years.

Naturally, they got a lot of good words from their coach.

Another player who got a lot of praises from his coach was Noy Castillo, the third candidate for the weekly citation.

Castillo had 27 points and more importantly held his own defensively against Pop Cola.

But even the most generous praises couldn’t sway the spotlight away from Hatfield, who will continue to make Pop Cola a force to reckon with in the playoffs.