The Final Score: The Rocket’s Ascent

Bring out your camera phones. Was that a statue of liberty dunk against Coca-Cola? Was that a 360-degree slam against Talk ‘N Text? What happens next? For some, a breakout game means scoring in double figures. For JC Intal, an above-average game just won’t do. Ginebra’s newest star wasn’t born to simply stand out.

Drafted fourth overall by Air21 in 2007, John Christopher Intal spent his first two years going in and out of games. Fans couldn’t figure out what Intal was good at. Everyone knew he could dunk. A windmill slam on a one-on-zero fast-break was a certainty. Everything else was an adventure. His outside shot was spotty. His ball-handling begged for improvement. It didn’t help that Air21 already had a gamut of scorers even before Intal joined the team. Ginebra, however, saw in Intal what Ateneo fans saw during Intal’s rookie year in the UAAP. They all saw the potential for air travel. With a 6-foot-4 lightweight carbon-fiber body and jet engines for legs, the former Letran Squire, curiously, isn’t a power dunker. He’s more of an aerial performer. Don’t think Dominique Wilkins. Intal is more like George Gervin. Like the Iceman, the Rocket scores with more grace than grunt. Even in Intal’s last three games for Ginebra, he tallied 18 points per game by slicing through defenders. When all else failed, he took off. He rarely tried to overwhelm anyone partly because he still needs to improve other skills and partly because he can out-jump anyone anytime. Besides, when Ginebra needs flight they call on Intal and when they need ferocity they unleash Ronald Tubid. While the Fast and the Furious are away, best to let the Flight and the Fearless play. "I’m very thankful that Ginebra is giving me the confidence to play my game," Intal, who played 32 minutes per game in Ginebra’s last three assignments, shares. “I just really want to take advantage of the opportunity." Against Alaska last Jan. 9 in Batangas City, Intal started the game by shooting 3-of-10 and committed five turnovers. Intal recovered in the second half to finish with 15 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. He also totaled a game-high seven turnovers. Intal’s former Ateneo teammates LA Tenorio and Larry Fonacier, fully-aware of Intal’s ball-handling weakness, caused two of the seven errors with timely swipes. That’s the bane of his athleticism. Everything is obvious – both his hits and misses. Fans go bananas when he skies. Coaches go nuts when he errs. "It feels great but I know I have to work more on my game," Intal, who someday hopes to complement his stratospheric transition game with decent post-up moves, admits. Intal’s ascension proceeds. It’s not ascension towards most valuable player status. It’s ascension towards significance. For any PBA player, insignificance leads to early retirement. Significance leads to a career. Fans use their camera phones to freeze the Rocket’s best moments. Intal, on the other hand, hopes to stretch new-found success and restored confidence into a lasting slam-dunking profession. – GMANews.TV