Phoenix rookie Perkins happy to personally see San Miguel's mettle

In his first game as a professional, Phoenix’s Jason Perkins flirted with a double-double. And he did that not against a cellar-dweling team — but versus the reigning Philippine Cup champions.

The stocky Filipino-American forward netted 10 points to go with nine boards in the Fuel Masters’ losing affair with the San Miguel Beermen on Sunday night at the Big Dome.

Perkins noted that despite the loss, he’s glad to have that experience early into his PBA career.

“They’re a tough team,” he said. “I’m glad I got to play them first. I’m glad coming into my first PBA game, I got to play in front of those kind of guys — seeing the rotations and their (basketball) IQ."

Asked if he is in any way surprised with the change in the level of play, the fourth overall pick of the 2017 Rookie Draft said that he was “aware of playing with smart players.”

“Our team, San Miguel… all the players in the PBA have IQs higher than those in college, so [this level of play] does not surprise (me),” he offered.

That being said, he declared that he’s also bracing to get better. With one PBA game under his belt, he acknowledges that he has a long way to go.

"I’m going to play a lot better. I’m going to work a lot harder,” Perkins said.

Asked to rate himself, the versatile forward — who showed pure hustle for almost 22 minutes he was on the court — said "Not good.”

"It wasn’t good. It wasn’t as good as I would have liked it,” he added. “But it doesn’t really matter how I played, we ended up losing. It’s all wins and losses.”

"My IQ’s going to be higher the next game. I’m going to study the game. Hopefully, I can keep getting better every game,” he closed.—