Import Rhenz Abando wants to be the first Filipino dribbler to win the Korean Basketball League championship.
The 24-year-old cager told Basket Korea he wants to get ahead of his peers and become the first Filipino to make it big in the ultra-competitive Korean cagefest.
The flashy Season 97 National Collegiate Athletic Association Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player insists conditioning is going to play a vital part in his quest to score a landmark win.
“We will focus only on the team’s combined victory. Also, among Filipino players, I want to be the first to touch the KBL championship trophy,” Abando said.
“It’s a long season, so I think taking care of your body is the most important thing. More than anything, I have to focus on helping the team,” the 6-foot-2 high-flyer said.
Abando signed with Anyang after showcasing his talents during Gilas Pilipinas’ tuneup games at the 2022 KB Kookmin Bank Invitational in South Korea last June.
He joins collegiate standouts SJ Belangel (Daegu KOGAS Pegasus), RJ Abarrientos (Ulsan Hyundai Mobis Phoebus) and Dave Ildefonso (Suwon KT Sonicboom) in Korea as more young Filipino basketball players are being recruited to strut their stuff abroad.
In the 2022-2023 KBL Season, Abando is currently averaging 9.17 points per game on 47 percent from the field and 40 percent from the three-point line.
The player from Santo Tomas, La Union scored a career-high 30 points in the Anyang’s 82-81 loss to Seoul SK Knights
Since then, Abando has left his newfound audience in awe with his insane athleticism and deadly three-pointers.
Everything is going smoothly so far for Abando as Anyang is on top of the standings with a 26-11 win-loss record.
He even won the slam dunk contest of the 2023 KBL All-Star last month beating the likes of Suwon’s Ha-Yun-gi, Ulsan’s Choi Jin-soo, and Goyang Carrot Jumpers’ Park Jin-cheol for 2 million Korean Won (P88,000) and won over Team KBL in a 3×3 match alongside Belangel and Abarrientos.
Abando also revealed that head coach Kim Sang-sik wants him to continue with his explosive style of play and not be afraid to make mistakes as the season progresses.
“Coach Kim Sang-sik told me to just play the basketball I did in the Philippines. He said it’s okay to make mistakes, so play your basketball.”
“To repay the coach’s trust, I take more responsibility for each play. I’m trying to focus more,” Abando said.
