THE celebration continues for Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, as the other half of the fantastic duo “The Fast and The Furious” will be dancing for one more year.
Jayjay Helterbrand will shoot for another mile as he is expected to sign a fresh one-year extension with the Kings, winner of the recent Governors’ Cup crown that ended their eight-year title drought since the 2008 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Fiesta Cup.
“He is ready to play. I think he is gonna help in the buildup,” Ginebra Head Coach Tim Cone told reporters, as the Grand Slam winning mentor steered the once-dominating franchise in the early 2000’s to yet another breathe of life after years of waiting and frustrations in a classic showdown against Meralco.
The 40-year-old Helterbrand, recipient of the 2009 Most Valuable Player plum, shared his thoughts in his Twitter account. Few years back, the playmaker hinted his retirement plans due to the lacklusting performance of the Gin Kings that saw a series of failures to bag the elusive trophy.
“I’ve never said it was going to be my ‘one last ride.’ I just said I’m not sure what’s going to happen. I’m still not sure. In God’s will,” Helterbrand posted on his Twitter account.
Teammed up with prolific guard Mark Caguioa, the heart and soul of the team conspired to uplift the spirit of their teammates, evident to their contributions in Game Four, when the Gin Kings erased a 16-point hole early in the fourth period to win the pivotal match.
It will be his 15th season since joining the league through a direct hire in 2000.
Helterbrand and Caguioa led Ginebra to five championships since they became teammates in 2001. Helterbrand has a career averages of 9.5 points, 3.7 assists and 3.1 rebounds. He has a career high of 18.1 points and 4.7 boards during the 2007-2008 season.