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Saguindel 'Earns' vital role for Hapee
by Jonas Terrado
(April 9, 2008)

Hapee Toothpaste has been known for being led by the likes of Gabe Norwood, Jervy Cruz, Mark Borboran, Reed Juntilla, and Larry Rodriguez, but a 5-9 guard has quietly entered to the scene as one of its reliables.

Earn Saguindel has seen his minutes, production, and presence on the rise play big dividends for the Complete Protectors despite an on-and-off stint in the current PBL Lipovitan Amino Sports Cup.

Through eight games played, the former UE ballhander has been exposed to 25.4 minutes a contest, posting numbers of 11.9 points and 4.3 assists, fifth in the league, while shooting 45 percent from the floor.

"Nabigyan ako ng break ni coach Louie (Alas) this conference," Saguindel said after his team's convincing win over Noosa Shoes last April 3. "Dati kasi kay coach Jun (Noel), hindi ako gaanong nagagamit pero iba na ngayon."

His surprising output is a far cry from his forgetful statistics in the last V-Go Extreme Energy Drink Cup tourney, when he tallied just 3.7 points and 1.1 assists in 12.5 minutes under then-mentor Jun Noel.

Even his two-year collegiate stint with the Red Warriors in the UAAP is still way behind with 5.6 points and 3.3 assists a game numbers despite being the chief playmaker for head coach Dindo Pumaren from 2004-2005.

And during his PBL stops with Harbour Centre and Burger King, he wasn't even used much, nor could his name be seen in the box scores of the sports pages the following day.

But the current tournament saw Saguindel, known for his typical point guard role, play beyond his norm as he has taken advantage of being on the court longer than expected to earn (no pun intended) his way into new Hapee head coach Louie Alas' rotation.

"Yung sistema talaga ni coach Louie para sa mga point guard, kaya para sa akin kailangan talagang magtrabaho ako sa court," the 26-year old native of Cebu City said.

Aside from that, he has been given the freedom to shoot more when he needed it most. An example of which came during one recent game, as he put a 20-point, 7-for-11 shooting clip in Hapee's double-overtime victory over Burger King.

During the second overtime extension, Saguindel drove into an open lane to score an uncontested left-handed layup that was one of the key breaks in Hapee's rough-sailing win.

"Yun nga din ang advantage sa akin ngayon, nagkaroon na din ako ng green light para tumira o kaya pag libre ako," Saguindel, a former Cebu Eastern College junior standout who also had a stint with the University of San Jose Recoletos prior to joining UE, added.

Despite his offensive improvement, he did say, however, that he has to work on his defense, which is a trademark of every Alas-coached squad.

With his recent play, along with a strong roster, Saguindel hopes that his team improves further on their 6-3 win-loss record (as of April 3) as the second round progresses.

"Slow start kami nung una pero maganda na ang nilalaro namin ngayon, sana tuloy tuloy na tong performance namin."

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