“Masyadong excited. Gigil na gigil e. From the start, talon na ng talon, hinahabol lahat ng tira,” said Agustin at the Bacolod-Silay Airport prior to the Beermen’s departure for Manila Sunday morning.

Agustin, the 1992 Most Valuable Player who carried San Miguel on his shoulders during one breathtaking stretch that year when star teammates Allan Caidic and Samboy Lim went down with injuries, counseled his future MVP to settle down and return to doing things he’s comfortable with.

“Okey, sinasabi niya na gusto niyang talunin ang Talk ’N Text. Pero dapat gawin niya yon within his own rhythm, his own flow. Baka nga yon pa ang naging dahilan kaya nag-cramps siya e.”

Washington, who was killing his former team with his intensity and aggressive play until he felt tightness in his right hamstring which eventually spread to both thighs, sat out most of the third quarter and more than half of the fourth before returning to try to do a Willis Reed.

“Yeah, the New York Knicks legend,” he said, smiling.

He drained a 3-point shot to put SMB within striking distance but couldn’t do much more with his backside cramping up as well and eventually returned to the bench.

“It was really frustrating,” he said. “This is all that I live for right now, you know what I’m saying? For me to be out of the game…it’s one thing if I was in foul trouble or just not playing well. But I was playing well and thought I was going to have a pretty good game. For me to get taken out of the game because of that, it’s really frustrating.”

It was a painful experience that has never happened before, Washington said.

“At least not this early in the game, and usually only in the fourth quarter,” he said. “I’ve tried eating more fruit and drinking water, Gatorade and stuff. I think it was just because of how hot it was that night.”

A heat pad wrapped around his left thigh, Washington said, may have also contributed to the spasms.

“That’s why it was so frustrating because I was feeling good, man. I thought I was ready to go for 30 last night,” said Washington, who finished with a team high 14 points. “I was going to turn it up, especially in the second half.”

Having spoken with Washington first, there was little time to relay his head coach’s suggestion for him to go with the current and not swim against it, an admonition that might have gone to naught anyway given his motivation.

Asked whether the fire would be extinguished from him come Game Two of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals on Wednesday in light of what he suffered, Washington was adamant.

“No way,” he said straightforwardly. “If anything I’ll be more ready. It’s frustrating, man, you know. Obviously I wanna win Game One. And I’ll be more determined to win the next two games.”

Next two games? He means go up two-one in the series?

“Yeah, that’s right,” he said.

To do that, San Miguel has to win Games Two and Three, the latter which grieving Tropang Texters guard Ryan Reyes, the only player other than Washington who was on a mission in Game One, will miss.

A tragic vehicular accident in a Los Angeles Freeway claimed the life of his 25-year-old younger brother, Allan Raymond, and his fiancée, and Reyes will be flying to the States after Game Two to attend to his sibling’s burial.

Tito Talao, Manila Bulletin