PAGADIAN, ZAMBOANGA DEL SUR — Roxas head coach Alvin Grey has pushed his players to be their best in the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup Mindanao Challenge.
On Thursday, Levi Dela Cruz got the message loud and clear en route to his best performance in Vanguards uniform.
The shifty point guard delivered 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field – including a 5-of-6 clip from deep – to go with three rebounds, an assist, and a steal. All that in just 12:49 on the floor.
“Mainit si Levi ngayon,” said Grey after Roxas tripped Kapatagan, 90-72 at the Pagadian City Gymnasium here.
“Medyo down ‘yung morale niya the past few games because of a personal problem pero sabi ko huwag mong dalhin dito sa court ‘yung problema. Susuportahan ka namin.”
And to have found his stroke after averaging just 3.4 points in the Vanguards’ first seven outings, Dela Cruz enjoyed every minute of it.
His performance also earned him the Chooks-to-Go Manok ng Bayan player of the game honors, his first in the conference.
With Grey’s backing and advice, Dela Cruz felt secure and just let it all out on the court.
This as the two go way back in 2013 when the 5-foot-7 native of Davao City was still playing for University of Santo Tomas and Grey was still an assistant coach there.
“Kung hindi dahil kay Coach Alvin, siguro wala talaga akong basketball career, hindi ako makakabalik ng Manila after ng minor ACL injury ko noon sa UST,” said Dela Cruz, who suffered an ACL injury in 2015, which forced him to go home to Davao.
Grey, who was then an assistant coach for Arellano University, asked Dela Cruz to tryout for the Chiefs in 2016 which gave the streaky shooter a new opportunity.
“Kung hindi dahil sa motivations and advices ni Coach Alvin hindi ako makakabalik sa basketball. Sobrang laki ng impact niya sa career ko,” added Dela Cruz – a student of Grey for eight years and counting.
“Parang tatay ko na rin siya. Salamat coach, love you coach!”
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