COACH Chris Gavina appreciated the Taipei visit made by close friend Alex Cabagnot in the run up to the playoffs of T1 League.
The veteran Terrafirma guard saw Gavina recently to catch up with his bosom buddy, and at the same time, watched the final two games of the Taichung Suns in the regular season.
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Cabagnot, according to Gavina, gave some inputs as far as the Suns’ games were concerned.
“He provided me some great insights for our two games,” said Gavina of the nine-time PBA champion.
“He was here to show his support. It was great having him around to watch our two home games.”
Unfortunately, the Suns lost the two games Cabagnot had gotten to watch, although by that time, the team was already assured of a berth in the tournament play-in.
“We have already locked up a spot in the play-in series, so we’re being smart about just making sure we keep everyone healthy,” said Gavina.
But the Suns, who barely made the play-in with an 8-22 record, proved to be a revelation in the next round by beating No. 4 Taiwan Beer Hero Bears in back-to-back fashion and clinch the last semifinals berth.
The Suns willed their way back from 28 points down and beat the Hero Beras in double overtime, 138-130, to force the rubber match.
Three days later, they made it two in a row with a clinching 120-118 win at the Tianmu gymnasium in Taipei to claim the last semifinal berth.
“These past 72 hours have been packed with nothing less than miraculous display of grit, toughness, and clutch moments,” said Gavina, who also gave credit to the Hero Bears for displaying tremendous competitive spirit just like the Suns.
Too bad, Cabagnot wasn’t around to see his friend basked in one of the best moments of his coaching career.
“Wished he (Cabagnot) had gotten to stay until the playoffs,” said Gavina of the 40-year-old Cabagnot, who proceeded to Saudi Arabia for the Fil-AmNation Select tournament.
Taichung Suns will play top seed New Taipei CTBC DEA in the best-of-five semifinals.
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