MANILA, Philippines – Franko House admitted he was not at his best in his PBA debut as Alaska continued its downward spiral in the Governors’ Cup following a 75-101 beating from Meralco on Friday, October 4.

Replacing Justin Watts with House seemed to be what the Aces needed to get out of the rut, but the import change hardly made an impact in their fortunes as they remained at the bottom of the standings at 0-4. 

And although he still had decent numbers across the board with 8 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 blocks, House vowed to redeem himself. 

“I got to come out with more intensity, take more ownership, be more aggressive as far as the physicality of the game and be strong with the ball more and take it to the rim,” House told reporters after the game. 

He added: “I didn’t play my best game today. I’ll be ready next game.”

The 25-year-old import last played for the Landstede Hammers in the Dutch Basketball League, where teams are allowed to have 4 players without a Dutch passport on their on-court lineups. 

Meanwhile, the PBA allows each team to field only one reinforcement, and House said he still needs to get accustomed to that dynamic. 

“I think it was more of me being the only import out there – I’m not used to that. We usually got 3 or 4 [imports]. Not as much attention defensively so that’s something I’ll adjust to,” House added. 

“Know where to pick my spots, know how to handle doubles better, seeing 3 people on me in the paint, that type of stuff. I’ll be ready next game. I’ll make the right adjustments going from there.” 

Head coach Jeff Cariaso said it is too early to judge House given the limited time he had to acclimate himself to the team. 

“I think he’s still the guy that we need. He’s that big presence so he just has to understand where to pick his spots. Maybe he got surprised with the style of play here a little bit and the expectations of being an import,” Cariaso said. 

“We expect him to do a lot. We expect him to do everything. Defense, score, inside presence, rebounds. Rebounding wasn’t bad today, it’s just him being able to get a little bit more comfortable with what we’re doing.” 

Alaska tries to finally crack the winning column when it meets defending champion Magnolia on Sunday, October 6, at the Araneta Coliseum. – Rappler.com