Cansino breaks out for depleted Bolts

MANILA, Philippines – With an undermanned crew in Meralco’s PBA Governors’ Cup game against the Terrafirma Dyip on Wednesday evening, rookie CJ Cansino provided the spark off the bench for the Bolts. 

Cansino, who was picked 11th overall by the Bolts in this year’s rookie draft, had the best game of his young PBA career thus far, scoring 16 points, grabbing four rebounds, dishing out two assists and stealing the ball once.

It was enough assistance for Meralco — which missed a number of key cogs against the Dyip — to secure the bounce-back 107-91 win and take a share of the lead in Group A play. 

The team played without Chris Newsome, Aaron Black, Raymond Almazan and Raymar Jose in the contest. 

After the game, head coach Luigi Trillo said that while Cansino still has a lot to prove, the future is bright for him especially with the wealth of veterans around him. 

“CJ still has a lot to prove. He’s very talented. He’s very popular. He’s very humble like Bong [Quinto] also, they’re both the same. They’re easy to coach, they’re very motivated,” Trillo told reporters. 

“But, what he needs to improve on] is his quality of shots. He is always in attack mode; you have to know a good shot from a bad shot. He has a lot to improve on, he has to develop his defense but he has good guys around him,” he added. 

“I’m happy CJ’s helping out. I remember Bong when he’s coming in, and now, he is the young one.” 

Prior to Wednesday’s game, Cansino had dismal scoring outputs for Meralco. He had two points apiece in the Bolts’ clashes against the Magnolia Hotshots and the TNT Tropang Giga. 

Trillo said that with the injuries in the team, it is a blessing to have depth. 

“When you reach this point, it is a blessing to have a deeper bench, so that when you get into a series, the team has help. But, we’re very pleased with [Cansino,] he’s a very humble guy, he listens. I think he’s gonna grow with these guys around him.”

Quinto, for his part, said that he is happy with the opportunity to share what he learned from his veterans with Cansino. 

“What is good with CJ, he is open-minded and he listens to every advice we give him. In his first two games, he was very aggressive, so he is now learning to be more relaxed and just wait for the game to come to him,” Quinto said. 

“Share the ball, rebound and do what you need to do to help the team outside scoring, and especially on defense. That is what’s good with CJ, he really wants to help the team. It starts with practice and execution in the game.” 

Meralco will next see action on Sunday against the NorthPort Batang Pier at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.