Amidst his struggles, Evan Nelle isn't giving up

(Photo Credit: SLAM Philippines)

It was the 4th quarter of the SLAM Rising Stars all-star game, and Team Punks found themselves in quite a hole. All of a sudden, Evan Nelle of the San Beda Red Cubs opted to show up and shot two threes from Steph Curry range to give Team Punks the lead. One of my colleagues proceeded to say,

"Iba talaga yung Nelle pag dating ng 4th quarter."

It was like watching Clark Kent take off his suit and tie so that he can show off his uniform and cape. Nelle showed off his skills as if he went into full on Super Saiyan mode because he saw Krillin get killed by Frieza.

The message was clear. The 4th quarter was Evan Nelle's show, and we were about to see more of this come NCAA Season 92.

Fast-forward to August, and what we see is an Evan Nelle in tears, after their loss against the Arellano Braves.

"Hard to move on, grabe," mentioned Nelle when I asked him how he was coping with the loss against Arellano. Moving from a loss is quite difficult. What makes this even more difficult is the fact that Nelle struggled the whole game, and wasn't able to show his usual 4th quarter act. In fact, he was only able to score 1 point during the whole duration of that game against Arellano. During the fourth quarter, Nelle was an atrocious 0/3 from the field, with two of those attempts coming from three point range.

The question now is, what's up with Nelle?

All season long, he has struggled with his shot, only making 33.8% of his field goals. That also means that per shot that Nelle attempts, the Red Cubs get 0.92 points per attempt. That's how bad it has been for Nelle. It's something that he himself acknowledges.

"I don't know din why my aren't falling," Nelle mentioned. As of this writing, Evan has an unimpressive average of 7.9 points per game. For someone who was named Finals MVP last year, you expect more. 7.9 points on top of 33.8% shooting simply won't cut it for a person who is perceived as a phenom by many.

Other than his struggles in the field, there has also been a noticeable struggle from Nelle to stay on the floor. It's not like Nelle has been fouling out every time (2.6 fouls per game). It just so happens to be a coaching decision.

So what's up with Evan Nelle? Is he not as good as we perceive him to be? Has his head grown big because of the praise he has been receiving from his peers?

If you ask me, I don't think that's the case.

What Nelle is going through right now is a phase of any basketball player. Just because a player is good, that doesn't automatically mean that he is saved from the possibility of hardships. It's kind of like how a relationship goes. It isn't always a happy go lucky affair. There will be fights, rough patches and misunderstandings.

Right now, what Evan is going through is a rough patch with basketball. He's been going through the same routines as before, but somehow, the usually open looks that he makes haven't been going in.

That doesn't mean he's a bad basketball player. It just means that he's human. Evan is a person capable of making mistakes.

Given his struggles, what does Evan have planned for himself?

Nothing really. He just plans to continue what he's been doing.

"I think I should just continue to do what I do," shared Nelle. "(I should not) force or look for my shots and just let the game come to me." Eventually, the game will come to Evan. It's bound to. He was born to play the game of basketball, and once he rediscovers his rhythm, the opposition ought to watch out.