For Converge FiberXers point guard Jordan Heading, his teammate Justine Baltazar has always been a heck of a player.
With 3:50 left in the fourth quarter of the Converge FiberXers’ PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinal game against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters on Wednesday night, rookie big man Justine Baltazar caught a pass from Cheick Diallo down low.
Baltazar rose towards the basket, and in his way was veteran bruiser Beau Belga, who has been known to make opposing players think twice about going strong to the rim. But “Balti” threw all caution to the wind and elevated form a one-handed jam that left Belga helpless.
The dunk gave the FiberXers a 122-108 lead, and sent them on their way to a 130-118 win that put them on the verge of their first-ever semifinal appearance since joining the league in 2022. It also preserved a perfect shooting night for Justine Baltazar, who went six for six from the field for 13 points in 28 minutes.
It also left his teammates duly impressed, chief among them point guard Jordan Heading, who like Baltazar is a relative newcomer to Converge but had already seen what the young big man could do during their time together on the Gilas Pilipinas pool from five years ago.
“Yeah, I mean, I first played with him in Gilas back in the day and I was impressed back then and I continue to be impressed,” said Heading, who himself was magnificent with 21 points and 9 assists. “You know, the impact that he has on the game, not always, you know, we’ve got a lot of scorers, but he impacts the game in so many different ways in terms of rebounding, passing, just his IQ, just knowing where to be.”
Baltazar joined the FiberXers after leading the Pampanga Giant Lanterns to back-to-back MPBL crowns and winning back-to-back MVP awards. So far, he’s been averaging 10.8 points and 8.4 rebounds, while making fans out of his teammates. Heading, though, has been a fan from the very beginning.
“I can’t say enough about him,” he said of Balti. “You know, I’ve raved about him every time I’ve spoken about him because he’s fantastic and, you know, he’s one of Pampanga’s finest.”
The FiberXers will need to duplicate, or perhaps even double, their efforts on Friday against a Rain or Shine team that has its back against the wall.
“Yeah, it’s good. I mean, obviously it’s good to take one step forward but, you know, a huge game on Friday for us and, you know, no celebrations at all yet,” Heading said.
“They’re going to come out really hard on Friday. We expect a really good competition.”
As for Heading, his steady play has been one of the reasons for Converge’s strong run in the elimination round, where they snatched the third seed. But the talented point guard deflected any individual praise.
“Oh, I’m just trying to pay back the trust of the management to, you know, bringing me in here and doing what they can to put me in a position to succeed and to put the ball in my hands. You know, I’m trying to make plays for my guys, not just for myself and it’s working out.
“I think we just need to kind of oil the machine a little bit. Sometimes we’re, you know, maybe not executing what the coaches want or missing some assignments defensively, you know.
“But to get to the finals, to do what we want to do, you’ve got to be A-plus in every area. You’ve really got to be sharp in all areas of the game. And we’ve still got to take steps to get there. But the good news is that we all play hard. You know, 1 through 12, we’re playing hard and we all want to win. So those are the ingredients that you need to succeed.
“But we do still need to get a lot better.”
Heading is also still hoping to get a call-up to rejoin the Gilas pool.
“100%, 100%,” he said when asked by The GAME. Yeah, yeah. I’m on standby. If they need me, they can call me. They’ve got my number. But if not, they’ve got a great group of guys. They’ve got, you know, a lot of success that they’re riding on.”
But yeah, I would love to be a part of that pool.
Banner Images from PBA Media Bureau.