MANILA, Philippines -- Barangay Ginebra’s young big man Greg Slaughter is having his strongest start as a pro since emerging as the PBA’s top overall pick in 2013.
Coming out with renewed vigor and much-improved shooting touch, Slaughter continued his colossal performance against Alaska in the Smart Bro-PBA Philippine Cup in Dubai.
The youthful big man played like a man possessed, pumping in 27 points and grabbing 19 rebounds, while knocking down the game-winning free throws with four seconds left to lift Ginebra to a heart-stopping 93-92 win over erstwhile unbeaten Alaska Sunday morning (Manila time).
Although he now averages tournament-best numbers of 27.3 points and 20.3 rebounds, the former PBA Rookie of the Year feels he still has a lot to learn as he maintains his regular individual workout under the team’s conditioning and assistant coach Kirk Colier.
“We just try to maintain the work we had from the offseason with coach Kirk. Now it’s more of just getting in shape, do a lot of skills work, and just try to help the team become successful,” said Slaughter, who is coming off his first Mythical Five selection last season.
Slaughter’s impressive showing against Alaska earned him the Accel-PBA Press Corps. Player of the Week for the period of Nov. 3-8, beating GlobalPort’s Fil-Am guard Stanley Pringle, Blackwater’s Carlo Lastimosa and Star Hotshots’ Peter June Simon for the weekly citation.
All eyes though will be on the 27-year-old Slaughter as he faces off with his long-time college rival June Mar Fajardo when Ginebra takes on the defending all-Filipino Cup champion San Miguel Beer next Sunday at the Philsports Arena.
The Beermen, who opened the season with back-to-back wins, absorbed their first loss after bowing to the rampaging Rain or Shine Elasto Painters last week, 84-99.