EASTERN survived a very hectic, to say the least, last three days by securing two victories across three leagues.
READ: Eastern boosts bid for Top Two spot, keeps Terrafirma winless
The Hong Kong guest team came away with a 134-110 win over Terrafirma last Friday in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup, and an 84-74 victory over San Miguel in the EASL last Wednesday, both games being played in Manila at the Philsports Arena.
READ: Eastern completes 3-game sweep of San Miguel after EASL blowout
But in between, six Eastern players also flew back to Hong Kong to play the first game of their semifinal series in the Hong Kong A1 Championship last Thursday. They lost to Winling, 97-78, at the start of their best-of-three showdown.
The six players then went back to Manila on Friday and arrived one hour before tip-off, and five of them in Siu Wing Chan, Yin Lung Cheung, Ka Hin Marco Leung, Adam Xu, and Yuet Yeung Pok played against the Dyip.
Fortunately for Eastern, a good number of players, including their top guys in Hayden Blankley, Glen Yang, and import Chris McLaughlin remained in Manila, but nonetheless only had one day to prepare in between their EASL and PBA games.
Although coach Mensur Bajramovic admitted their practice time last Thursday was far from ideal, he also said the system had already long been in place.
“Technically, we did preparation with eight players,” said Bajramovic, who also stayed in Manila for this stretch. “We even had a problem with traffic again going to the gym to have a practice. We travelled one hour and spent only 45 or 50 minutes in practice. So it wasn’t good preparation.”
“But we already have a system defensively and offensively. We just make the points on what we have to do,” said Bajramovic.
The Hong Kong team is definitely not complaining with the busy schedule, as it is also helping them in terms of their development.
“I think the fact that we stay together, even when it was tough, that's what really helped us win too," said Steven Guinchard.
Eastern survived the absence of McLaughlin who only played for five minutes, with Ramon Cao scoring 23 points, and Lam and Guinchard chipping in 20 points apiece in the blowout win over Terrafirma. Even Pok, who travelled to Hong Kong and back to Manila on the day of the game, contributed 11 points.
Bajramovic admitted it helped that the coaching staff kept reminding the players that the Dyip are dangerous even with their winless slate.
“All my job was to warn my players of how Terrafirma is good. Believe me, I watched carefully all the games and Terrafirma is playing all the games tight, then they lost in the end somehow. I don’t know how really. But nobody killed (beat) them 20 points or 30 points," said Bajramovic.
"They played very tough physically, they are pretty organized defensively. This is always dangerous. Before this game, they are winless, this is a trap to get my players to be overconfident and arrogant.”
Good problem ahead for Eastern
Eastern’s next game in the PBA will come on January 26 when it faces Magnolia, giving the team time to focus on their local league where they will look to win the final two games and advance to the finals.
But in the event Eastern does make it, it faces another scheduling conflict, as Bajramovic revealed that the championship in the Hong Kong domestic league will start on January 26 as well.
That means their lineup will most probably have to split up to be able to play both games.
“If we qualify to final (in Hong Kong), then the real problem starts again,” said Bajramovic.
"It's a good problem," quipped Guinchard.
That is a good problem to have indeed, as the Hong Kong squad is also determined to clinch the top two spots in the PBA Commissioner's Cup quarterfinals and gain a twice-to-beat advantage.
“We are still looking for a playoff for the first two spots,” said Bajramovic. “Many teams have three losses, so we need to win all three games until the end and to see how the other games are to try to get the first two spots. It will help for sure for the playoff.”
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