MANILA, Philippines – Jeron Teng showed plenty of promise in his first game for the Alaska Aces on Wednesday, as he tallied 16 points on just nine shots against the Magnolia Hotshots in the PBA Philippine Cup.

The former La Salle star, who was taken fifth in the 2017 PBA rookie draft, showed that he has the strength to play at the professional level. Teng repeatedly drove into the teeth of the Magnolia defense, drew fouls and still finished through contact.

He wound up shooting nine free throws – the most in the team – and made eight of them. However, at the end of the game Teng was somewhat disappointed, as Alaska lost to Magnolia, 108-95.

"First game, talo," Teng said. "I was hoping na win 'yung first game ko. Sana nanalo. Tapos, eto pa 'yung last game namin before Christmas."

Though Teng was solid in his debut, he acknowledged that he still needs to adjust to how the game is played in the PBA. Teng had been dominant in college as well as in the PBA D-League, but the professional level is entirely different.

"It's a learning process for me," explained the two-time UAAP champion. "I am still trying to learn the system of Alaska."

"They've been playing together for how many years already and bago pa lang ako. I need to be more fluid on defense and offense. Sa akin, kailangan ko pa matutunan yung system," Teng added.

While Teng saw plenty of room for improvement, his coach was mostly satisfied with how he performed.

"He did really well," said Alex Compton of his rookie.

Compton was especially impressed with how frequently Teng got to the free throw line, and praised the rookie's craftiness in using his strength and build to draw fouls.

"He's still trying to pick up our system and our rotations, but for a rookie to get to the line that much . . . he just attacks. He's so strong, and he attacks," Compton observed.

Of course, it helped that Teng converted the foul shots that he took on Wednesday. He was a notoriously poor free-throw shooter during college, making only 61% of his charities over a five-year career. Against Magnolia, however, he made eight of his nine shots at the line.

"His shooting is way better than I remember it, when we had him in high school in the Elite camp," said Compton, who went on to predict that Teng will become "a very good shooter" later in his career.

"I already see some improvements," he added. "I think he's going to cause people some problems in his league. He's a rookie, so he's still got to learn some things on our defenses, but he certainly doesn't lack effort."

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