Ginebra’s bigs: Bitten by the bug

来源：菲律宾-菲律宾星报2017-03-25 00:00:00
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本文舆情点翻译
1
阿吉拉尔在蓝鹰队效力两年，领衔了全联盟进球百分比和拦截百分比。
原文: The 6’9” Aguilar spent two years with the Blue Eagles, leading the UAAP in field goal percentages and blocked shots.
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原文
正文翻译阿吉拉尔在蓝鹰队效力两年，领衔了全联盟进球百分比和拦截百分比。
One of my favorite questions to ask PBA players is “What is your earliest memory of basketball?” It provides a non-threatening, disarming way of getting them to open up about how their passion for the game was ignited. I am often surprised how many of these supremely masculine athletes get sentimental, and sometimes shed a tear or two, when they open up about being youngsters introduced to the game that shapes their lives. Yesterday, this writer got to ask that question to Barangay Ginebra’s big men: Japeth Aguilar and Greg Slaughter, who took widely different paths that eventually converged in the PBA. “My earliest memory of basketball was one of my Dad’s games,” says Japeth, whose father Peter played for Ginebra roughly two decades ago. “It was me, my mother and my yaya. I remember very clearly all the fans, and I ran onto the court, and my yaya ran after me.” As a teen, Japeth experienced painful teasing from his classmates in Pampanga. He resolved to leave the province to go to Manila. Taking his father’s bag, he asked his grandfather for P500, then left for the big city. It was a hard transition to high school play in Mapua, but he didn’t care. “I didn’t notice the hardship,” Japeth says resolutely. “I just wanted to learn everything I could to become a better player. When I had the option to repeat fourth year or go to college, I was recruited by Ateneo. There, I really had to watch my grades, and we had to study every day. The priests of Ateneo were very strict with student-athletes.” 1The 6’9” Aguilar spent two years with the Blue Eagles, leading the UAAP in field goal percentages and blocked shots. But instead of a straight line to the PBA, Japeth went the scenic route. Following his father to the US, he played for the Western Kentucky University Hilltoppers, then wanted to suit up for Gilas Pilipinas, but applied for the PBA Rookie Draft. That led to being the top draft pick, a game with Burger King, a stint with Talk N Text, Gilas Pilipinas and now, Barangay Ginebra. “Don’t let anybody stop you from following your dream,” Japeth says, remembering all the criticism he faced for the rollercoaster career he has had. “You know you can play basketball. Don’t be afraid to go after your dreams.” Sportshub ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Meanwhile, Greg Slaughter merely wanted to do what his older brother and uncles were doing, on his frequent visits to his mother’s hometown in Cebu. But one event changed the trajectory of his life, the 2004 PBA All-Star Game. “My uncle and I were standing outside Cebu Coliseum,” Slaughter recalls. “There were so many people because of the All-Star Game. But we couldn’t get in because we didn’t have tickets. Then someone from PBA saw us – I was about 6’8” then – and gave us tickets.” That random act of kindness lit the fire inside Greg to really want to be part of the league. It was his first time to watch a live game, and it was a cliffhanger, the South beating the North by two points. Asi Taulava and Jimmy Alapag were named co-MVPs of that PBA All-Star Game. “I saw how exciting everything was, how the fans were,” the Gin Kings center recalls. “It was my first time to see a PBA game. I never saw that man who gave us those tickets. But I hope down the road I do so I can thank him.” After that, Greg took a similar route to Metro Manila and Ateneo via the Philippine Collegiate Champions League with Cebu’s champion team, University of the Visayas. By that time, Greg, like Japeth, realized that he wanted to be in the PBA, and likewise endured the pressure to studying criticism and getting stronger and improving his skills to be able to excel in the land of the giants.
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