Known as the “Fourth Quarter Man” during his playing days, Jojo Lastimosa lived up to his monicker by knocking down huge basksets during crunch time.
Now an assistant coach at NLEX, Lastimosa saw flashes of his old self in Larry Fonacier who came up with clutch baskets in the Road Warriors’ latest win against the San Miguel Beermen in the Oppo PBA Governors’ Cup.
Fonacier hit back-to-back treys in the fourth quarter that helped NLEX nabbed its sixth win.
“Magaling naman talaga yan. Hindi lang masyadong nabibigyan ng opportunity before,” Lastimosa told InterAksyon.
Fonacier gave credit to coach Yeng Guiao who helped him toughen up as a player.
“Siya naman nagumpisa nun eh,” said Fonacier. “You just have to give credit to him because he helped me build my confidence in the PBA.”
“He trained me to play in these moments. When you’re playing against the best teams, you have to ready. Kapag matagal ka na sa liga, you welcome those moments.”
Guiao said he has no second thoughts about using Fonacier during big moments.
“It was a vintage Larry Fonacier we had seen, probably the Larry of eight years or 10 years ago,” said Guiao. “He’s really playing well for us. He is not only giving us the outside shooting. He is also giving us leadership and a lot of maturity.”
