PBA: Sol Mercado back in super scoring mode for Barako Bull

Sol Mercado made one thing clear when he made his debut in his new team Barako Bull Energy - he is officially back in super scoring mode.

 

The 6-foot-1 guard scored 20 points and shot a 7-of-11 clip in 28 minutes on the floor for the Energy, an offensive-oriented performance compared to the past conference with former team San Miguel Beer.

 

 

With a lot of gunners for the Beermen in the Philippine Cup, Mercado assumed the role of facilitating the offense centered on Most Valuable Players June Mar Fajardo and Arwind Santos rather than getting baskets himself.

 

As a result, his numbers plummeted to 6.42 points per game from his 12.33 average last year for GlobalPort. Prior to his stint with San Miguel, Mercado consistently averaged in double digits per season since he debuted in the league in 2008.

 

"Every team I've been on they wanted me to score except San Miguel. When I was in there, I don't need to score really," he said about his former role in SMB. "Everyone thinks, whatever hearsay, that I lost my game all of a sudden."

 

The guard, however, said that his supporter role was all part of the system. Until his trade before the playoffs in the Philippine Cup, Mercado's playmaking successfully towed the team to the top of the standings with a 9-2 card.

 

"There's a difference between choosing not to score and can't score," he said.

 

With his larger role in Barako, Mercado said he has to improve his conditioning and readjust himself to being in constant attack mode.