Phoenix's White cherishes new PBA lessons
MANILA, Philippines – Import James White has already logged three tours of duty in the Philippine Basketball Association. And yet, he still learns something new.
Case in point: Wednesday's grind-out win over Blackwater.
After surviving the Elite 107-102, White, now suiting up for Phoenix Fuelmasters, said the tussle proved as a great lesson for his team moving forward.
"We learned how to keep a lead and how to lose a lead," the 25-year-old cager said. "Coming into practice tomorrow, we just gotta work on situations to you know, get that mindset where we have a lead, we should keep it."
Phoenix built a 22-point cushion in the first half only to let it be erased in the payoff period. Fortunately, White's performance, paired with Matthew Wright's locals-best, helped the Fuelmasters surive. The American registered 31 points to go with 14 rebounds and five blocks.
White did the heavy lifting despite suffering a tight hamstring early into that crucial quarter.
"'Yung hamstring daw niya nagta-tight pero sabi niya, 'Coach, I will not let it this tightness cause our loss.' Hindi ko na talaga gagamitin, pero siya mismo 'yung 'Coach, I can play,'" revealed head coach Louie Alas.
"It was just a minor cramp, but I'm fine," chimed in White. "They gave me some pickle juice, that was a first. I never had pickle juice to treat a cramp. Hopefully I don't have anymore coming up."
The team's lesson, White added, mirrors his own.
"There's still some aspects to the game that I gotta learn," the third-year PBA foreign reinforcement said. "Going back home, me and my trainer we were working hard, watching film, just the little things that I'm trying to work on and bring it here."
White played two conferences with Kia before moving to Phoenix.
"It's only the first game and we got more games to come," he closed with a smile.
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