MANILA – Converge FiberXers head coach Delta Pineda is hopeful import Jalen Hudson finds his groove sooner than later, following his performance in their 105-103 win against the Terrafirma Dyip.
The locals of Converge carried the scoring load with five players scoring double digits, led by Justin Arana with 31 points and 10 rebounds.
After a 20-point outing in their last game, Hudson was limited to only two points, along with eight rebounds and four assists in over 26 minutes of play.
READ: Converge survives Terrafirma for back-to-back wins
Despite surviving the Dyip, Pineda pointed out what was lacking in their team in their second game.
"Nakikita niyo ba kung ano yung magkamukha sa last conference sa ngayon? Maybe yung import namin right now, hindi makuha yung ano niya, yung rhythm niya for this game," Pineda said during the post-game press conference at the Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday.
"Yun yung nawawala sa amin, yung score ng import namin for this game," he added.
Pineda was referring to the Commissioner's Cup, when they had to change imports ahead of the playoffs.
The Converge mentor said he is not mulling an import change, at least for now.
"Bigyan pa ho natin ng pagkakataon. Last game naman ho nag-perform yung import natin. So maybe this game lang talagang siguro po nanibago," he said.
As for Hudson, he's not too concerned and is optimistic they will figure things out as they go back to training
"I gotta give credit to that team. They played really well. They're ready for our schemes, they're ready for our plays. I felt this game was more of an assist game, more of a contributing game," he said.
"We're obviously playing a lot of people right now. I'm only playing 25-26 minutes whatever it is. My shot attempts are kind of lower, it's been tougher. But it's not about me, it's about the team. We got the win today, I'm happy about that. There's some stuff we got to figure out," Hudson said.
The 30-year-old is no stranger to the league as he previously suited up for the TNT Tropang 5G in the 2023 PBA Governors' Cup, before he was replaced by Rondae Hollis-Jefferson.
Hudson and Converge will return to action on Friday when they face the Macau Giant Pandas at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.