Jalalon goes thru ‘baptism of fire’

MANILA, Philippines - Jio Jalalon ran into Alex Cabagnot in his PBA debut and quickly realized how tough the pro play was.

Cabagnot, the 2016 PBA All-Star MVP and member of the 2016 PBA Mythical Second Team, virtually ran a clinic for the Gilas guard, coming up with 22 points, eight assists, two rebounds and two steals as San Miguel Beer repulsed Star, 96-88, in the opener of PBA Season 42 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Sunday.

Jalalon put in decent numbers with 11 markers, five boards and one dish-off but admitted he was surprised on how different was the play in the pro league.

“It’s tough,” said Jalalon, the best point guard in the last NCAA tourney.

“All the players are smart. You can’t beat them just with your quickness. You have to think,” added Jalalon .

The brilliant San Miguel playmaker scored seven crucial points as he helped boost a  key turnaround at endgame, wiping out a nine-point deficit on the way to their eight-point triumph.

Jalalon, on the other hand, was good for only two markers in the fourth quarter.

“It’s hard to drive to the basket because the players are tall and good. Si Kuya Alex, akala ko maiiwan ko, pero di talaga (I thought I could get past Alex, but I couldn’t),” Jalalon said.

Still, Jalalon made good impression, finishing with a 4-of-6 clip.

The Hotshots were stymied with  30 turnovers as against SMB’s 17.

Jalalon accounted for three, Paul Lee had nine and Mark Barroca made five.

All these Star guards succumbed to  the pressures put up by Cabagnot, Marcio Lassiter and Chris Ross.