Lebron Jhames Daep is putting any celebration on hold even after the Perpetual Junior ALTAs drew first blood in the NCAA Season 100 juniors basketball finals against Benilde-La Salle Green Hills.
The 6-foot-7 center said their eyes are fixed on the prize, but stressed that closing out is the hardest part of a series, especially with the Greenies all fired up to force a winner-take-all. So for now, they'll take a page out of basketball legend Kobe Bryant's book.
"Unang-una maganda sa pakiramdam pero 'yun nga, sabi nga ni Kobe na 'job's not finished' kaya parang 'di pa namin fini-feel 'yung panalo," Daep told GMA News Online on Friday.
"Throughout the season sabi ni coach 'yung mga panalo natin balewala lang kung hindi namin makukuha 'yung championship. Hanggang dulo sama-sama kami."
[First of all, it feels good but like Kobe said, 'job's not finished' so it's like we don't feel the win yet... Throughout the season, coach said, the wins don't mean anything until we win the championship. We'll stick together until the end.]
Daep starred for the Junior ALTAs in a nail-biting 100-96 win against the Greenies, putting together 21 points, nine rebounds, two assists, and one block amid the bothersome LSGH defense.
Daep admitted that LSGH forced them out of their game, which allowed the latter to take a slim 45-44 lead at the break. But come the second half, the Junior ALTAs just showed composure and calm to silence the gritty Greenies.
"'Yung first half parang naging selfish kami kaya kami nawala sa laro pero 'yung second half sinabi lang sa amin ni coach na maniwala lang sa sistema niya," he added.
"Kaya kahit anong nangyari 'di kami nawawala kasi may confidence kami sa sistema."
[We kind of became selfish in the first half so we were off our game but in the second half, coach just told us to trust in his system.]
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
