Like a good soldier, Marqus Blakely willingly gave way to Aaron Fuller as Blackwater's import in the PBA Governors' Cup.
Blakely took over for the Elite while Fuller recovered from his ankle injury, dishing out 11.67 points, 11.39 rebounds, 6.67 assists 4.67 blocks and 2.33 steals in three games as Blackwater carded 1-2.
He was relegated to the team's injured/reserve list last Thursday as the Elite decided to go with Fuller in their matchup with Columbian Dyip. And with Blakely watching from the sidelines, Fuller debuted with 26 markers, 10 boards and three dimes as the Elite suffered a 90-102 defeat Friday.
"Coaches felt like maybe they give Aaron a chance, to see if he's healthy, if he's ready to play and I totally agree with it," Blakely said.
"I understand it's a business and the deadline for switching import is coming up so they want to be fair about the situation - give me a chance and give him a chance. So it is what it is. I'm not injured, I'm perfectly fine so it's just trying to figure out what the next step is for the organization," he said.
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Fuller said there's no pressure trying to duplicate Blakely's all-around performance.
"He came in, did a great job I just want to come in, do what I do best and try to get a win. But unfortunately, it didn't happen tonight," said Fuller.
Blakely can be reactivated later if Blackwater deems so and he expressed readiness to return to action if called.
"Yeah, for sure. I mean, I think in the last two games that I played - we lost to a strong team NLEX by six and then won against NorthPort - kinda put us in the right direction," he said.
"I think that our energy level and the intangible things in those games picked up and gave us a chance to try to win. (Against) NLEX, we came up short, against NorthPort we pulled away with one. And that's the thing I've been preaching to the guys - consistency for 48 minutes. It's not who scored the most, it's a team sport. It kinda showed, we only had 16 assists tonight. And Columbian, they played a very good team game," he said.
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Blakely insisted that he and Fuller are cool despite competing for the job at Blackwater.
"I think it's already awkward enough to have two imports in one team where you know you can't play one. But we try to keep it (cool). I've known him before we've been in this situation so I don't wanna make it anything like we're fighting or we're not talking.
"We understand the business of the game and the nature of the game and it is what it is, it's out of our power. That's why I felt like coach gave him a chance to prove himself just like he gave me a chance to prove myself," he said. (OL)
