IT didn't take long for Juan Gomez de Liano to make his presence felt as a member of the Philippine men’s basketball team.
The PBA rookie and rising star of the Converge FiberXers was cocky enough to surprise everybody, bringing in his youthful energy and performing above expectations in front of the home crowd when Gilas Pilipinas battled a bigger, highly physical and more efficient New Zealand Tall Blacks in the second window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers at the Mall of Asia Arena Thursday night.
With naturalized player Justin Brownlee being shackled by a sound defensive game plan of the Tall Blacks and being held down to just four points, de Liano stepped up and became the spark coming off the bench for the Nationals.
De Liano produced 10 points, two of them coming from rainbow country, but it was the infectious energy generated by the young man which was clearly felt more by the adoring Filipino crowd who cheered no end and provided hope for the Philippine team.
Many were surprised but not Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone, who revealed that de Liano was probably the best performer for the squad during their training camp.
"That happened for a day. We could change the starting line up on Sunday. I think he was one of the best if not the best performing players in our whole practice camp," said Cone.
"So we're not surprised at what he did. He's gonna be a mainstay of this team. Remember, this is just his first game in front of the big crowd. There was a lot of pressure. But he's gonna get comfortable. He's gonna do a lot more than what he did today, moving forward, because he's got special talent."
Looking at the composition of the Philippine team, a player like de Liano is what the team needs.
At a time when Gilas Pilipinas was missing an important piece in Kai Sotto, who won't be joining the squad in the second window, and go-to guy Brownlee having trouble in getting his offensive rhythm, a player of de Liano's caliber who plays with much swagger is somewhat the type of player the doctor ordered.
Gilas Pilipinas never had such a player who plays with so much swagger, a player who performs with so much confidence and not afraid to commit mistakes, but continuously brings energy.
Perhaps, the last player who comes to mind wearing the Gilas Pilipinas uniform was Calvin Abueva, who incidentally is joining forces with de Liano, at the FiberXers camp to form a double swagger edge for coach Dennis "Delta" Pineda in the PBA.
De Liano provided everyone a glimpse of his future, not just for Gilas Pilipinas but also the PBA.
He may not be the face-of the-league kind, which is reserved for a player who has that similar attitude of an Alvin Patrimonio or a James Yap during the height of their playing careers, but de Liano has that similar characteristics of a Mark Caguioa who plays with no fear but ready to perform at the big-time stage.
The good news is de Liano has just started and both the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas and the PBA could benefit for it in the long run.
All for Juan.