JORDAN Heading gave Terrafirma and the rest of PBA fans what exactly to expect from him following his decent debut with Gilas Pilipinas in the just concluded FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers.
Although initially bothered by a hip injury, the no. 1 pick in the recent special rookie draft showed a glimpse of the kind of talent he will be bringing in with the Dyip once he gets to play in Asia's pioneering pro league.
The 6-foot-2 Fil-foreigner played a significant role in the national team's repeat win over South Korea, 82-78, to complete a three-game sweep of the tournament that came to a close Sunday in Clark, Pampanga.
Heading finished with 10 points in 19 minutes of play, which he capped by going 2-of-5 from deep.
The performance was good enough to warm up the 25-year-old guard as Gilas Pilipinas now turns its focus to the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belgrade, Serbia starting on June 29.
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And Heading is ready to embrace the tougher assignments ahead.
"I think as far as these next games that are coming up, we're going to get really tested. The competition is going to skyrocket," he said.
Gilas is bracketed in Pool A in the OQT and will battle the host team and Dominican Republic in the preliminary.
"Now it's worldwide powerhouses," noted Heading, a former member of the Batang Gilas team under Barangay Ginebra deputy Olsen Racela. "We really, really got a good chance to test ourselves."
The issue with his hip forced the Gilas coaching staff of Tab Baldwin not to include Heading in the final 12-man roster for its initial outing against South Korea, which the Filipinos won, 81-78, on SJ Belangel's game-winning trey at the buzzer.
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Heading finally suited up in the next game against Indonesia, though he only managed to score three points in the runaway 76-51 win.
But he did save his best for last when he helped Gilas win back-to-back against the Sokors to cap the Flipinos' perfect 6-0 record for the entire three-qualifier tournament. (RG)
