Once more, Danny Ildefonso is dealing with a large man who may be the basketball player of the future in the Philippines.

Since Justine Baltazar, the 49th season’s top draft pick, joined the Converge team in the Commissioner’s Cup, the two have been working closely together.

Ildefonso is pleased with what he is witnessing thus far.

According to Ildefonso, Baltazar is already on par with a huge man who might end up being the greatest of all time in terms of listening and his openness to learning.

Naturally, Ildefonso was referring to June Mar Fajardo, the eight-time PBA MVP, whom he mentored during their time as teammates at San Miguel in 2012 and 2013, which were the early years of Fajardo’s Beermen career.

According to Ildefonso, Baltazar’s drive to learn—a trait that Fajardo shares—fits in wonderfully with his current skill set and his belief that, despite being a skilled player before joining the PBA, he still needs to develop.

Ildefonso believes that Baltazar can become a great player in the MPBL, where he won two MVP awards, if he adopts the correct mindset. 

Bulking up is one of Baltazar’s top priorities, according to Ildefonso, so he can handle the brutality of the PBA.

Ildefonso said, “Bright future kasi masipag tapos athletic. Importante kasi sa isang player ‘yung gustong matuto, masipag, maaga sa practice, alam niya kung ano ang kulang niya at kailangan niyang i-work out,”

“Kilala naman natin si Balti, kailangan lang niya mag-transform at madala niya ‘yung pagka-dominante niya sa MPBL. Kaya naman niya as long as willing siya matuto.”

After a few games with Converge, Baltazar’s actual game is now beginning to emerge.

The Pampanga native scored 16 points in the FiberXers’ 110-94 victory over Meralco on Christmas Day, his greatest offensive performance to date. When his scoring isn’t working, Baltazar has also pulled down double-digit rebounds in past games.

According to Ildefonso, “Balti’s” current struggle is to figure out how to post double-double numbers, which was practically a habit for him while he was in the MPBL.

Ildefonso will have to put in a lot more work for Baltazar, especially since Converge won’t play until January 11 against Governors’ Cup champion TNT.

On the other hand, despite MERALCO’s injury woes in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup, Chris Newsome is keeping a positive outlook on the team’s season and attempting to advance to the playoffs.

The Bolts are losing two straight games, including the one on Christmas Day when they lost to Converge 110-94, dropping their win-loss record to 3-2.

Newsome was not exempt either, as he suffered a dislocated finger in the match on Christmas Day.

“There’s a lot of different injuries all around. A lot of the timetables are going to vary a little bit. I dislocated my finger in that game and just had to pop it back in and get out there and play. But that’s just something that happens with the game of basketball,” with averages of 18.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 4.0 assists through five conference games, Newsome is leading the charge for the local team.

The good news for Meralco is that assistance is on the horizon as players begin to rejoin the team. Allein Maliksi and Chris Banchero returned to the team for the Christmas Day match.

Newsome is also certain that Meralco can turn things around, citing the Bolts’ 2024 Philippine Cup campaign as evidence of their ability to overcome their present difficulties.

With a 1-3 win-loss record at the start of that season, Meralco even went 3-5 before embarking on a run that resulted in their first-ever PBA title, with Newsome winning the Finals MVP award.