Cebuano guard Eliud Poligrates remains motivated to prove his doubters wrong. / PBA D-League
CEBU CITY, Philippines—Like a shark that has been finally let out of its cage, Cebuano guard Eliud Poligrates continues to show he still has plenty of gas left in his tank after his record-setting 67-point performance in Marinerong Pilipino’s 44-point rout of iWalk in the 2019 PBA D-League Foundation Cup on Monday, August 26, 2019, at the Arena in San Juan.
Poligrates’ scintillating performance shattered the old record for most points in a D-League game of 58 points set by James Martinez with AMA back in the 2016 Aspirants Cup in a 125-76 win over Topstar ZC Mindanao.
For the Camotes Island native, the motivation remains the same: to prove his doubters wrong.
“Every time I play here, I will always give my best because I want to prove to Coach Titing (Manalili) that they thought wrong of me. They didn’t have any trust in me,” said Poligrates of his former coach at the Cebu Sharks.
Poligrates and the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League squad parted ways a few weeks ago after failing to come to terms on a number of issues including playing time.
“Over here in the D-League, Coach Yong (Garcia), he has a lot of trust in me as an ex-PBA player,” Poligrates adds.
Poligrates says he is proud of his record-setting performance, which is proof of the hard work he is putting in, day in and out.
“I never thought I would be able to set that record. It was a blessing from the Lord that I was given an opportunity to be able to play in the D-League once again,” says the former Southwestern University-Phinma King Cobra.
“It’s just the fruit of my hard work and efforts here. I practice shooting every morning and afternoon!” he adds.
Poligrates says that he still has his eyes set on making back to the PBA.
“I still want to play in the PBA since I feel that I still have the ability to play at that level if only a team would give me a shot,” he says. / celr