New San Miguel import makes instant impact despite need to adjust

MANILA, Philippines — With an up-and-down PBA Commissioner’s Cup thus far for San Miguel, new import Justin Patton had a solid debut for the Beermen in a huge win over the Macau Black Knights Tuesday night. 

Patton, who played 22 games in the NBA across four teams, impressed in his first game as a Beerman. He scored 24 points and hauled down 17 rebounds, to go with three steals, two assists and a block. 

The 28-year-old, 6-foot-11 big man scored 18 points in the first half in the 110-94 win over the guest team to help San Miguel rise to 2-2 in the import-laden conference. 

After the game, Beermen head coach Leo Austria acknowledged that Patton, who replaced Marcus Lee as the foreign reinforcement of the team, is “still adjusting to the Philippine brand of basketball.” 

“He really wants to play and I gave him a lot of time because he’s not yet… hindi pa nakaka-adjust to the Philippine brand of basketball. He’s trying to figure it out,” he said. 

“And yesterday, we had a long practice for him to know the plays we’re going to run. But the good thing with him is, lahat ng sinasabi namin, he was able to pick it up right away,” he added.

Entering the game, the Beermen had a 1-2 win-loss record, with Lee being the import in all three games. They lost to Titan Ultra — the Giant Risers’ only win thus far in the conference — and the TNT Tropang 5G, while recording a win against the Converge FiberXers. 

“Going to this game, we’re really worried because at 1-2, we cannot afford to lose another game at 1-3 before the break of the Holy Week and magandang baon ito papunta ng simbahan, maraming babati sa inyo na nanalo kayo,” Austria said. 

CJ Perez, for his part, said that Patton is still getting the hang of the team’s system.

“I think mas marami pa naman kaming araw na makaka-practice so mas magiging familiar siya sa system ni Coach Leo and as of now, it’s impressive na maganda yung nilaro niya despite na isang practice lang ata siya,” he said. 

“So, hopefully sa mga susunod na game, mag-pick up pa yung laro niya and maipanalo pa niya kami.”

Perez top-scored for the Beermen with 26 points to go with five assists, three rebounds and a steal. June Mar Fajardo had 16 markers, 16 boards and six dimes, while Marcio Lassiter and Don Trollano had 12 and 10, respectively. 

Tony Mitchell carried Macau with 23 points, 109 rebounds, three blocks, two assists and two steals. 

Next up for San Miguel is Barangay Ginebra on Easter Sunday.