CALAMBA. – Joshua Munzon is aware that he could get emotional on the basketball court sometimes.
But the 25-year-old Fil-Am is immensely grateful for having a veteran in Dylan Ababou as his teammate for the 2019 season of the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3 with Pasig Chooks.
“I’m emotional when I’m out there. I yell at Dylan, and he’ll calm me down, he’ll tell me to just breathe and just look at the other side of things,” the top 3×3 player in the country said.
Ababou, 33, provided the leadership for the powerhouse Pasig crew that featured Munzon, Troy Rike, and Nikola Pavlovic that ruled various legs of the inaugural Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3 season last year.
Aside from competing in the first-of-its-kind league, the squad also took part in numerous FIBA 3×3 tournaments in cities like Doha, Kunshan, Moscow, Poitiers, Xiongan, and Kaohsiung.
“I’m just happy,” Ababou said. “They’re all listening and that’s great satisfaction eeing them listen and also seeing them get better and seeing them getting more successful.”
Munzon, though, won’t get to play with one of his favorite teammates as they will play for different teams in the first leg of the 2020 Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3 President’s Cup powered by TM starting this Wednesday.
The California-native is teaming up with fellow national team pool players Alvin Pasaol, Troy Rike, and Santi Santillan in Family’s Brand Sardines-Zamboanga City Chooks. The quartet has been put together in one team to help them develop their chemistry as part of their preparations for next year’s FIBA 3×3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
