UP Fighting Maroons hero JD Cagulangan is excited to take his act to the Korean Basketball League (KBL) and seize the chance to face his fellow Filipino imports.<\/p>\r\r
Signed with Suwon KT Sonicboom, the 5-foot-10 Cagulangan is eager to face, in particular, his fellow Fighting Maroons in brothers Juan Gomez de Lia\u00f1o and Javi Gomez de Lia\u00f1o, as well as his best friend Carl Tamayo.<\/p>\r\r
\"I'm very happy because the caliber of those players [is high], and they play for Gilas, so I'm happy to play abroad and get the chance to face them,\" Cagulangan said to One News' Play by Play.<\/p>\r\r \"I'm happy I get to share the court with them and, of course, especially the Fighting Maroons there in Juan, Javi, and, of course, my best friend Carl.\"<\/p>\r\r Juan and Javi, who play for Seoul SK Knights and Anyang Red Boosters, respectively, were two of the UP stars before Cagulangan started running the point for the Maroons in 2022 when he teamed up with Tamayo of Changwon to power the State University to the UAAP Season 84 men's basketball title.<\/p>\r\r Cagulangan will forever be remembered as the guy who drained the game-winning shot against Ateneo in that deciding Finals Game Three to end UP's 36-year title drought.<\/p>\r\r Two years later, in Season 87, Cagulangan ended his career with a Mythical Team selection, a Finals MVP, and a championship.<\/p>\r\r That Cagulangan taking his talents to KBL got him a chance once more to face UAAP 2-time MVP and La Salle forward Kevin Quiambao of Goyang Gono Skygunners.<\/p>\r\r Cagulangan and Quiambao faced each other in Season 86 and 87 Finals, with the La Salle ace winning the first one.<\/p>\r\r The other Filipino imports in KBL are SJ Belangel of Daegu, Migs Oczon of Ulsan, Justin Gutang of Seoul Thunders, Calvin Epistola of KCC, and reigning MVP Ethan Alvano of Wonju.<\/p>\r\r \"For sure, it's very competitive there [KBL], and as for my personal expectations, I just want to fit my game into the system that our coach is running, and I'm OK with that. I just have to work,\" said Cagulangan.<\/p>","article_custom_fields":"{\"\":[\"\"],\"seo_meta_keywords\":[\"\"],\"seo_meta_description\":[\"\"],\"seo_meta_title\":[\"\"],\"sponsored_flag\":[\"\"],\"offer_flag\":[\"off\"],\"featured_article_flag\":[\"\"],\"drupal_json\":[\"{\\\"type\\\":null,\\\"properties\\\":{\\\"PUBLISHED\\\":0,\\\"PROMOTED\\\":0,\\\"STICKY\\\":0},\\\"fields\\\":[]}\"],\"wp_custom_json\":[\"{\\\"type\\\":\\\"\\\",\\\"fields\\\":[]}\"],\"article_tags\":[\"\"],\"show_image\":[\"off\"],\"Disable_Ad\":[\"off\"],\"disable_player\":[\"off\"],\"column\":[\"\"],\"kicker\":[\"\"],\"edel\":[\"\"],\"delu\":[\"\"],\"delt\":[\"Read this in The Manila Times digital edition.\"],\"premium\":[\"off\"],\"Redirect_URL\":[\"\"],\"Registration_required\":[\"off\"],\"background_image\":[\"off\"],\"user_needs\":[\"\"],\"page_number\":\"0\",\"initial_publication\":\"\",\"date_created\":\"2024-12-24 15:06:16\",\"date_modified\":\"2024-12-24 15:07:16\",\"last_modified_user\":\"Sherwin Arnaiz\",\"section_color\":\"#08F304\",\"target_page\":\"0\",\"cxense_metatags\":null}","cms_type":"live","author_id":1576,"section_id":3,"seo_meta_keywords":"JD,Cagulangan,excited,to,play,in,KBL","seo_meta_description":"","seo_meta_title":"JD Cagulangan excited to play in KBL","publish_time":"2024-12-25 00:06:00","related_articles_ids":"","article_tags":"","sub_section_id":0,"visit_count":30,"sponsored_flag":0,"offer_flag":0,"featured_article_flag":0,"media_gallery_flag":0,"video_gallery_flag":0,"highlight_flag":0,"top_story_flag":0,"is_updated":0,"is_old_article":0,"old_article_id":0,"article_byline":"Niel Victor C. Masoy","ts":"2024-12-27 11:31:50","last_edited":"2024-12-24 15:07:16","alt_publish_time":"2024-12-24 15:07:19","image_path":"{\\\"image_path\\\":\\\"manilatimes\\\\\/uploads\\\\\/images\\\\\/2024\\\\\/12\\\\\/24\\\\\/500045.jpg\\\",\\\"cms_type\\\":\\\"live\\\",\\\"small_image\\\":\\\"\\\",\\\"is_updated\\\":\\\"0\\\",\\\"image_cropping\\\":\\\"{\\\\\\\"original_image\\\\\\\":{\\\\\\\"image_original_width\\\\\\\":1100,\\\\\\\"image_original_height\\\\\\\":584,\\\\\\\"icd_image_type\\\\\\\":\\\\\\\"original_image\\\\\\\"},\\\\\\\"main_image\\\\\\\":{\\\\\\\"image_main_width\\\\\\\":1200,\\\\\\\"image_main_height\\\\\\\":635,\\\\\\\"icd_image_type\\\\\\\":\\\\\\\"main_image\\\\\\\"}}\\\",\\\"is_copied\\\":\\\"0\\\",\\\"media_type\\\":\\\"0\\\",\\\"image_caption\\\":\\\"\\\",\\\"image_alt_text\\\":\\\"\\\",\\\"image_count\\\":2}","author_name":"Niel Victor C. Masoy","section_name":"Sports","sub_section_name":"","slide_show":0,"breaking_news":0,"visit_count_update_date":"2024-12-27 11:31:50","old_cms_article_id":null,"permalink":"2024\/12\/25\/sports\/jd-cagulangan-excited-to-play-in-kbl\/2027101","show_image_in_thumb":0,"api_status":2,"a_custom_data":"{\"exclude_from_gallery\":null,\"lead_image_id\":null}","publication_id":2,"max_publish_time":"2024-12-25 00:06:00","page_number":"0","homepage_article_flag":0,"article_shortlink":null,"cropped_image":0};
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JD Cagulangan excited to play in KBL
