An ailing Caelan Tiongson showed up to play his debut game for the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, but the 32-year-old rookie made sure neither sickness nor the Blackwater Bossing could spoil his first official game in the Philippine Basketball Association.
On Tuesday night, Tiongson came away with 15 points, pulled down five boards and played with boundless energy as he made a good first impression in Rain or Shine’s 110-97 bashing of Blackwater in the PBA Governors’ Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Head coach Yeng Guiao earlier told media that Tiongson was questionable for the team’s first game of the season.
“Caelan phoned in sick this morning. He had fever and had a bum stomach,” Guiao said during the post game interview.
Aside from his health condition, Guiao was also worried at how Tiongson will perform, especially since the 6-foot-5 Fil-Am just came off a two-year retirement and only played a few games before his PBA debut.
All those apprehensions vanished the moment Tiongson strutted his stuff inside the hard court.
“Coach Yeng gave us all the confidence,” said Tiongson. “My teammates also trusted me and I just went with the flow. Some games may not only be scoring, some games should also be rebounding, and tonight, I was able to shoot more.”
For Tiongson, he was all business and barely showed signs of weakness even when he’s not in tip-top condition.
“I took several anti-inflammatory. I did a great job taking my vitamins and minerals, things like that,” added Tiongson.
Tiongson was one of eight players who scored at least eight points or more for the Elasto Painters, who showed up with more depth, balance and potential.
