MANILA, Philippines - With certified stars at point guard post, Jonas Villanueva knew he would have to wait long before he could take over from Olsen Racela and Mike Cortez. But with Cortez sidelined by ACL early last season, Villanueva showed he’s ready to play the lead role.
Villanueva proved this last week when he put up back-to-back solid games to help power the San Miguel Beer to victories for a share of the lead in the early going of the 2009 Motolite PBA Fiesta Conference.
The 25-year-old playmaker from Bocaue, Bulacan dished out a career-high 27 points in a 93-89 victory over Alaska last Wednesday then came back with a 16-point performance in a 114-105 win over erstwhile unbeaten Burger King last Sunday to cop the KFC/Accel-PBA Press Corps Player of the Week honors for the Feb. 28-March 8 opening period.
“He has always had the tools, even when we first picked him up. Now, he plays with confidence,” said San Miguel coach Siot Tanquingcen of Villanueva, picked at ninth overall in the 2007 Rookie Draft, who had first taste of the starting point guard role in the season-ending tournament.
The former FEU mainstay has since showed he can be as efficient as Cortez or as reliable as Racela.
First, he played like an import when the Beermen played without one against the Aces, then came up with an equally impressive showing against the Titans.
In those games, the 6-foot Villanueva attempted 13 shots in each game, making 15, while averaging 5.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists.
“He’s showing a lot of maturity in his game. The experience this past All-Filipino Conference made him tougher both physically and more importantly, mentally,” Tanquingcen said.