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Jordan Heading receives passing grade in his PBA debut
Converge FiberXers opened the Philippine Basketball Association Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup curtain with a victory against the Terrafirma Dyip, 116-87, on Wednesday, November 27, at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
The much awaited debut of former top overall pick of the special Gilas draft Jordan Heading has come to fruition already.
Heading scored his first basket in the PBA off a tip-in in the 2:52 mark of the first period. He finished with eight points on 3-of-5 shooting from the field, four rebounds, and six assists against three turnovers in almost 24 minutes of play.
The stats might not be as high as expected of the Filipino-Australian sweet shooting guard but enough to get the nod of Converge head coach Franco Atienza.
Photo Courtesy: PBA
“So far, so good. We believe he played really well,” stated Atienza of Heading. “He is slowly understanding what we want to do on both ends of the floor. I think for a first game, he exceeded our expectations.”
As he got a passing grade from his coach, the California Baptist University alumnus shared that there’s no limit for them as long as they’re moving in the right direction.
“I think as long as we keep moving in the right direction, in terms of our chemistry and in terms of playing for each other rather than playing for ourselves, I think the sky’s the limit for us,” said Heading.
“We got to build our chemistry out there. We got to figure out what each guy does well and carve out each other’s roles and be aware of that.”
The 28-year-old Heading is also excited to team-up with 2024 first overall pick Justine Baltazar when the latter finished his commitment with Pampanga Giant Lanterns in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League or MPBL.
“I think there’s a lot of excitement about this team and I think it’s justified, especially with Balti coming in a few weeks,” Heading remarked regarding Baltazar.
“We’re really excited for that and I know everybody is as well. I think that’s going to take our team to a whole new level,” he added.
Heading and the FiberXers will be going for back-to-back wins when they return to the hardcourt against Hong Kong Eastern for the early solo lead of the teams standings on Friday, November 29, 7:30 PM at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
