Junthy Valenzuela: Player of the Week

Red Bull’s Junthy Valenzuela, for his outstanding performance in stepping up and leading Red Bull to an 86-75 win over Welcoat last Wednesday, was adjudged the Philippine Basketball Association Press Corps’ Smart-Accel Player of the Week for the period October 22 to 28.

In that game, Valenzuela, more known for his hard-nosed defense, came off the bench to shoot a career-high 27 points, enabling the George Chua-owned franchise to bounce back from a 95-102 loss to Barangay Ginebra in their conference debut the Friday before.

Not only that, Valenzuela also had five rebounds, four assists and two steals in a sterling all-around performance that was appreciated by no less than Bulls head coach Yeng Guiao.

“Very rare magkaroon ng Player of the Week from Red Bull because our system doesn’t highlight individual effort,” noted Guiao, then serving out a one-game suspension, but witness to his player’s exploits nonetheless.