BEEN THERE, DONE THAT
Gilas Pilipinas standouts having big games so far inside bubble; Wright, Standhardinger say there’s a reason for that
Northport coach Pido Jarencio chatted briefly with Phoenix Super LPG ace Matthew Wright as they crossed paths inside Quest Hotel at Clark Freeport.
Jarencio said he was impressed by Wright’s 36-point performance in Phoenix Super LPG’S PBA bubble debut last Sunday—a 116-98 rout of Meralco in their Philippine Cup showdown at Angeles University Foundation gym.
“It’s just tsamba,
Wright replied.
“Oh, OK. Next time, don’t make tsamba then,” Jarencio said, laughing.
“Next time” for Wright will be on Thursday against Jarencio’s Northport squad, which is aching to bounce back after losing their debut, 96-89, to Blackwater last Monday.
Wright’s scoring explosion was just part of a surge of huge individual performances early in the bubble. TNT’S RR Pogoy debuted with a 45-point night and then teammate Ray Parks Jr. followed that up with 40 points, 11 rebounds and five assists as the Tropang Giga went off to a 2-0 bubble burst by beating Terrafirma. Troy Rosario had 20 points, 15 rebounds and five assists for TNT in tha game. In the Northport loss, Christian Standhardinger chipped in 23 points and 10 rebounds. CJ Perez scored 30 points in Terrafirma’s loss to TNT. coach,”
PH Five veterans
All those big performers had donned the national jersey in the past and Wright feels this is no coincidence.
“I feel like the Gilas [Pilipinas] guys will have an advantage because of the scheduling, the atmosphere—we’re kind of used to it,” Wright told the Inquirer. Standhardinger agrees. “I think the Gilas players are doing so good because if you travel to the [Southeast Asian] Games, or something like it— it’s kind of the same thing,” the Northport center told the Inquirer during one of the media sessions
“It’s just two weeks. But you have games after it all, you have a hotel where you stay. So I think it’s really easier for the people who went through it to adjust,” added the Filipino-german workhorse, who had suited up for the national team a couple of times before playing his first PBA game.
NLEX coach Yeng Guiao, who called the shots for the national team during the last Fiba World Cup, said the national team experience is an advantage that extends to coaches.
“Being able to manage a situation where you are away for weeks, playing a tournament, managing the psychology of your players, managing practice, game preparations, I think that helped me a lot,” Guiao said.
Same as int’l schedule
But the mercurial mentor said the bubble experience amplifies the national team experience by a still unidentified exponent.
“[T]his is still unfamiliar territory,” he told the Inquirer. “Whenever you go [to] international [competitions], the most you stay locked in is maybe two weeks.”
“We’re here for two months.” And, Guiao added, if “that experience has given us an [edge] ... you have to remember that there are several people who have the same experience: Tim [Cone], Norman [Black].”
Cone, the Barangay Ginebra coach, led the 1998 Centennial Team for Bangkok Asian Games while Black, the Meralco menmen tor,tor, handled national squad for the 1994 Hiroshima Asiad. Cone was also the coach of last year’s gold-winning squad to the SEA Games.
An old feeling
If Cone is enjoying an edge over other coaches, however, he isn’t talking about it much. The Grand Slam mentor has a few Gigi laslas alumni in his squad too in LA Tenorio and the pair of Japeth Aguilar and Scotscot tietie Thompson who have another built-in edge: They played for the nana tionaltional team—coached by Guiao—in a closeddoor game and so have a feel of competing inside a quiet gym. Cone isn’t putting much stock on the Kings’ 10292 victory over Guiao’s Road Warriors last Sunday either.
“You [still] don’t know who the best teams are,” he told select reporters. “It’s less about talent than it is about being in shape and preparation.”
Blackwater, for instance, never merited much attention beyond the brouhaha over their unauthorized practice while the country was in strict lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Elite stunned Jarencio’s squad and looked sharp enough to merit Cone’s concern.
“[They] looked in great shape and they were really prepared in their last game as they knocked out the fancied Northport team,” Cone said on the eve of their contest slated on Thursday.
“We think they’ll be a very formidable opponent.”
I feel like the Gilas [Pilipinas] guys will have an advantage because of the scheduling, the atmosphere— we’re kind of used to it MATTHEW WRIGHT Phoenix guard