Dalph Panopio acknowledged he still has plenty of things to work on in his game after Blackwater absorbed a beating at the hands of Converge in a tune-up match last Saturday.

The third overall pick in the recent Rookie Draft got to test his mettle ahead of his debut in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup opening on 5 October.

It made him realize that he must work harder to be big league-ready.              

“Personally, I got to step up,” Panopio said after the Bossing’s 77-96 loss at the Hoops Center in Mandaluyong City.

The Filipino-Italian guard toiled for every point but showed flashes of his brilliant playmaking with nifty passes.

“It was a rough start, I think, but it got better in the second half. My teammates were like a big help and they were really there pushing me, which helped in the second half,” the former Batang Gilas member said.

Panopio also got to test his chemistry with Blackwater forward Christian David and RK Ilagan. Panopio, however, had to wait a little longer for the anticipated backcourt team-up with Sedrick Barefield.

Barefield has been bothered by a shoulder injury since the Kadayawan Invitational Basketball Tournament in Davao City, but is expected to be ready by the time the opening conference of the league’s golden anniversary tips off.

“It was a great opportunity for me to play with CD (David) and RK. I didn’t get the chance to play with Sedrick because he’s a little injured. Even if he was out on the bench, he was still talking and he was really helpful,” Panopio said.

“This is a good thing as a team. They’re really good guys. They are really a great group of guys. They’re very nice. I’m not worried about the technical stuff on the court because Coach Jeff (Cariaso) got us. I’m not worried about anything. I think we are just going to work on it and we’ll be fine,” he added.

Panopio saw the loss as part of Blackwater’s growth. It gave the Bossing an idea of the areas the Bossing need to address.  

“Honestly, I think it went really well and I think we found out that we got a lot of work to do. Definitely, the score didn’t go with us, so I think it’s part of the game because we really got a wake-up call,” he said.