A HEART-TO-HEART team meeting apparently did wonders for Converge in its bid to break a troubling skid in the PBA 50th Season Governors’ Cup.
FiberXers coach Delta Pineda revealed they had a serious talk last Friday to reflect on what has been the disconnect in their campaign that had seen them win their first three games only to lose the next four.
“Medyo mabigat ‘yung pinagdaanan ng team… ‘Yung mga sunud-sunod na talo, talagang low morale ‘yung mga bata,” he said.
“After ng loss namin nung huli, talagang nag-usap usap kami na lahat. We need to talk. We need to contribute. We need to find a solution kung ano ba ‘yung dapat naming baguhin, i-adjust.”
At the end of the team meeting, Pineda said the result was Converge agreed to play for each other and work as a unit.
“Last Friday, we had a good meeting, one-on-one with the boys. Nagkaroon kami ng magandang kasunduan regarding dito sa pagbawi namin,” he said.
“Para saan ba ang ilalaro ng kada isang player, for individual ba ang stat natin or for the team, for the family? Lahat naman po, we go for the team. We consider our team like our own family kaya sacrifice una ‘yung iba. Para sa team muna. Para sa pamilya muna lahat ng lalaruin namin.”
Back on track
After that candid conversation among themselves, the FiberXers finally arrested their slide last Tuesday when they won over Terrafirma to get back to the .500 mark with a 4-4 record, good for shared third with TNT in Group B.
“Kailangan na kailangan talaga namin ‘yung panalo with Terra kasi sila ang ka-tie namin. Masyado na po malalim ‘yung apat na sunod na talo. Kailangan na mag-bounce back," said Pineda.
“Nag-usap usap naman kami ng mga bata. So talagang kailangan naming mag-regroup, mag-refocus, ‘yung mga missing namin especially on defense, we need to recover.
Converge now hopes all this carries over to their meeting with NLEX on Friday, especially after the FiberXers lost in their first round encounter last August 1, with Road Warriors import DeQuan Jones finishing with 18 points and nine rebounds.
READ: NLEX to play all-Filipino against Converge
But Jones will be out not just for the Converge game, but for the remainder of the season following serious injuries to his foot and knee.
“One game at a time. Focus muna namin ang NLEX. Kailangan muna naming bumawi. Kailangan naming mag-bounce back with NLEX. Importanteng importante po sa amin ‘yun,” Pineda said.
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