Perez dreams of raising Terra Firma to stellar heights

LAST year’s Rookie of the Year winner, CJ Perez, dreams of raising the game of Terra Firma Dyip, formerly known as the Columbian Dyip, to stellar heights despite the uncertainty of whether Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 45 will push through or not.

Perez, who is also a member of Gilas Pilipinas, explained that it’s not about him carrying the Dyip to the playoffs and to the Finals, but about giving his all and inspiring everyone in the team to uplift each other all the way to the championship.

“Alam ko na conditioned lahat ‘yung mga kasama ko, at nakikita ko nagwo-work out sila lagi. Maganda nito, ibibigay namin ang lahat if ever matuloy ‘yung conference. Sana mag-playoffs (I see on the Zoom app that my teammates work out all the time, and I know they’re well conditioned. The good thing about this is that we’ll give it our all if ever the conference pushes through. I wish there will be playoffs),” Perez told The Manila Times on Friday in a phone call from his home in Rizal, Nueva Ecija.

He says he has a good feeling about the franchise winning its first PBA title, hopefully when the league resumes in mid-October, seven months after a full stop in mid-March.

“Oo, kung kakayanin, eh. I think pwede, pero uunahin muna namin ‘yung playoffs,” added Perez, who nearly topped the stats for the Best Player of the Conference title in the PBA Governors’ Cup with 23.2 points, 8.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.5 steals in 11 games last conference.

Although his home province is under the modified general community quarantine, which is more relaxed measures than the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) of the National Capital Region (NCR or Metro Manila), he still finds it difficult to keep his training up to par with his best because of the ban on scrimmages and games in basketball courts.

“Nasa bahay lang ako with family kasi wala ding mapaglaruan. Basta in shape lang, dribble-dribble lang sa bahay. May bola naman, wala lang court; so, jogging lang at workout (I just stay at home with my family because there’s nowhere to play. As long as it keeps me in shape, I just dribble-dribble at home. Got a ball, but got no game place; so, jogging and a workout is all I can do),” shrugged Perez with good-natured acceptance.

The players of Dyip and all the other members of the league were about to undergo swab testing at the San Miguel headquarters in the NCR this week as a prerequisite for conducting training when President Duterte reverted Metro Manila and other affected areas to MECQ in response to the call of medical frontliners.

“Galing na ako Manila last week; bumalik lang ako. Pero OK lang. Para naman sa safety ng nakakarami. Mahirap sa aming mga players, pero OK na rin (I was already in Manila last week; but had to go back. But it’s OK. It’s for the safety of the majority. It’s difficult for us players, but it’s OK too),” said Perez.