CANDON, Ilocos Sur — Jerrick Ahanmisi preaches consistency and discipline after sweeping the skills event in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50 Arena Plus All-Star Weekend.
The Terrafirma guard made history by becoming the first player to bag the Obstacle Challenge (guard edition) and the Three-point Shootout on Friday night to kick off the annual All-Star festivities at the Candon City Arena here.
Ahanmisi’s twin titles served as validation for all the hard work he put in behind the scenes to improve his craft.
“These are just a product of hard work every single day. The things that people don’t see, the people don’t see on camera, the things that people don’t see when they’re watching practices or watching games, this is what this is for,” said an emotional Ahanmisi while displaying his two plaques.
Ahanmisi was a deadshot in the final of the Three-point Shootout to edge no less than San Miguel Beer sniper Marcio Lassiter and Converge rookie Juan Gomez de Liaño.
Finishing behind Lassiter in the elimination round, Ahanmisi pocketed four of the five money balls, worth two points each, in the left elbow rack and hit two of the three-point golden balls for a final score of 30.
Shooting last, Ahanmisi only needed 26 points to beat Lassiter, who had 25 points after fading in the last couple of racks. Gomez de Liano got 18 in the final.
Lassiter, the all-time league leader in three-points made, took the pole position in the first round with 25 points while Ahanmisi and Gomez de Liano had 22 each.
Ahanmisi earlier ruled the Obstacle Challenge for guards, clearing the course in 24.44 seconds in the final.
He beat Blackwater’s Dalph Panopio, who clocked 26.97 seconds. TNT’s Rey Nambatac was third with 27.94 seconds followed by Gomez De Liano (35.83), Titan Ultra’s Fran Yu (37.52) and San Miguel Beer’s Juami Tiongson (50.7).
“This is all just the hard work coming into fruition,” Ahanmisi said.
He admitted that participating in the Obstacle Challenge in a way warmed him up for the Three-point Shootout as the final run included a top of the key three-point shot, which he hit on the first try.
“When I did the skills challenge first, it helped me that I sat down first, so I just did a routine. It was just like a routine, so what I did worked for me, and it helped me out,” Ahanmisi said.
Being the skills event king inspired the 28-year-old Ahanmisi, who was traded by Magnolia to the Dyip last year, to elevate his game heading into the mid-season Commissioner’s Cup next week.