Juan GDL of Marinerong Pilipino led his team to the finals round and was named D-League MVP in his first full season with the team.
Marinerong Pilipino’s Juan Gomez de Liaño asserted his dominance throughout his first full PBA D-League stint and was rightfully awarded the 2022 Aspirants’ Cup MVP award on Wednesday, August 24 at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The former Japan B. League import carried his team to finish fourth in the elimination round and led the team to only its second finals appearance, topping the league in scoring with 18.4 points and averaging in assists with 6.3 dimes, while also collecting 8.4 rebounds and 1.2 steals.
GDL was awarded prior to Game Two of the best-of-three Finals between his Skippers and EcoOil-La Salle, where another MVP candidate in Michael Phillips posted huge double-double numbers to force a decided third game for the championship.
The 19-year-old Green Archer was one of the top prospects in the Aspiring Cup as he finished the UAAP S84 as a Mythical Five member, with averages of 10.5 points, 9.9 rebounds, 2.1 blocks, 1.9 assists, and 1.4 steals.
Meanwhile, Juan GDL also beat Johnsherick Estrada, Adalem-St. Clare’s prized NAASCU rookie MVP, as he came in third place in the Aspirants’ Cup race with stats of 16.4 points, 6.2 boards, 3.5 dimes, and 1.1 swipes per contest.
The newly awarded MVP also bested the likes of Green Archers’ CJ Austria, Adalem Construction-St. Clare's John Rojas, Apex Fuel-San Sebastian's Romel Calahat and James Una, and teammate Jollo Go.
According to GDL, winning MVP honors is not his goal for this season, but rather helping the Skippers win their breakthrough championship after failing to win it all in the past seasons despite heavily talented rosters.
The skippers are on the brink of repeating history with their runner-up finish in the 2019 Foundation Cup as they again failed to complete a sweep as they are headed to a rubber match with EcoOil-La Salle on on Wednesday, August 31, 12 pm.
Tags: #PBA, #dleague, #basketball