MANILA — Stephen Holt will be entering a new phase in his PBA career.

The incoming second-year guard is among the newest aces of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel as he was acquired by them in a blockbuster trade with TerraFirma Dyip last month, and he revealed how things went for him when the deal was announced.

“I found out about it just like everybody else. When I saw it on the website, I just landed back in Manila,” he said at the league’s Season 49 Media Day last week in Pasay.

He has, since then, already played a couple of tuneup games with the Tim Cone-coached squad and even starred during their friendly against the tuneup game against the New Taipei Kings in Macau.

And despite being with them for less than a month, the change of scenery has been great so far, said the Filipino-American.

“It’s been great so far. The easiest part of my transition to Ginebra is that the culture is already set,” shared Holt. The culture here is already set. They have a veteran group, a veteran coaching staff, so even though I’m a new player, they’ve done a great job of acclimating me into the Triangle System.”

“That’s why I think I’m gonna fit into this system.”

But despite joining the crowd-darlings, the Season 48 Rookie of the Year frontrunner said that his love for the Dyip will always be there.

“Obviously, we just had a very good off-season with TerraFirma. I’m very happy with what we accomplished last season, and again, that was a stepping stone in my career,” explained Holt.

“I mean, we were able to build something special over there. Up to this day, I’m friends with some guys over there. I was able to get that closure with the guys, but obviously, our friendship will continue. I got a lot of love for TerraFirma,” continued the 6-foot-4 guard, while also touching on some of the relationships that he built over in the Dyip’s garage.

“Me and Juami [Tiongson] have a great relationship. We’re already talking mess with each other. We’re lucky we’re not in the same bracket, ’cause there will be more chitchat on the floor. But we’re still in the same group chat, me, Javi [Gomez De Liaño], Isaac [Go], and Juami. They’re my guys, and what we accomplished last season, that’s gonna be in our hearts forever,” he shared.

Holt even discussed how they were poised to finally turn around the fortunes of TerraFirma.

“We had to take baby steps. We couldn’t say that: ‘Oh, we’re gonna win a championship the first year.’ We had to get into the playoffs. So my mindset was: ‘Okay, we made the playoffs in the All-Filipino conference. Let’s try to make more than that in the import-laden conference.’ That was gonna be our goal. We had so many close losses last season, and I think we put the league on notice of how competitive we really were,” he said.

“I wouldn’t say [we’ll win] a championship within the next year or two, but we were gonna be a perennial playoff team.”

While with the Dyip, Holt once voiced out about league parity and competitiveness.

But now that he is with the powerhouse that is Ginebra, has his stance changed?

“At the end of the day, you can only control what you can control. When I was with TerraFirma, I wanted to make the team better, I wanted to make the league better, and give the league a great product,” Holt said.

“I think our story helped the league a lot, making the playoffs and defeating San Miguel. We were a confident group. The work always shows, 1 through 16, and everyone was working before and after practice, that’s the culture that we built.”

“Now that I’m here, I’m just gonna continue with my leadership and my work ethic. Hopefully, I could have a positive impact on this group even if it is a veteran-laden group,” he continued.

And aside from his hopes to bring his talent and other intangibles to the Barangay, he is also hoping to finally win his first PBA title.

“The expectations are already there.  know what it means to put on this jersey — competing for championships — and that’s what we’re gonna strive for and that’s what I’m all about. I’m here to win,” offered Holt, while also saying how he doesn’t mind sacrificing for Ginebra just for them to earn the championship.

“I’m not worried. At this stage of my career, I’m here to win. My last championship was in 2017, and in my last three years in Europe, I lost in the Finals, so I’m very hungry. I’m here to work, and whatever minutes I get, whatever position that I play, I’m just here to get to work.”

“I know how I approach the game is gonna fit well with this group, and I think the coaching staff and the players can see that already in the first weeks of camp.”

“Hopefully, we can put ourselves in a position to play for a title. We don’t know how we’re gonna look at the start of the season with the new group, but hopefully, we could continue to rise,” he said.