by Homer D. Sayson
CHICAGO -- After a Commissioner's Cup campaign where they finished 1-11, the Converge FiberXers' downward spiral continues at 0-4 in the ongoing Philippine Cup.
And as the losses keep piling up like bodies at a morgue, suspicious minds are wondering.
Is Converge tanking?
"No," that was the stern reply of a perturbed coach Aldin Ayo,
"This question does not deserve the dignity of a response, but when our organization is under attack against baseless accusations I feel the need to set the record straight," Ayo told me in a telephone interview.
"Converge is committed to winning and our players are all professionals. We play to win every game," added Ayo, who conceded that some fans have already made up their minds and won't listen to reason
So what's up with this listless 0-4 start?
A series of unfortunate events
Ayo cited a confluence of factors that include inexperience and bad breaks of a team in manpower transition. It's an explanation, not an excuse.
"We lost three key players in Abu Tratter, Maverick Ahanmisi and Jeron Teng. Obviously, na apektuhan ang team dynamics namin which is essential to team chemistry and consistency. All of a sudden some players have bigger roles and that's not always easy to do."
Thus far, the 1-2 punch of Alec Stockton and Justine Arana carry the fulcrum of Converge's offense with a combined 163 points with Arana also grabbing 26 rebounds through four games,
But it's not enough for a team that coughs up 14.4 turnovers a game while shooting just 23.8 percent from beyond the arc (35 of 117).
At the end of the day, Ayo, a big proponent of personal accountability, is pointing the finger of blame directly at himself and his coaching staff.
"We take responsibility, Trabaho namin na ma sort-out tong personnel change. We will do better."
"Tanking," is the lexicon attached to a professional team that is willfully and intentionally losing games.
Converge ain't all that
Their loss to Terrafirma was a six-point game late in the fourth quarter. The defeat against NorthPort went into overtime.
The FiberXers ran into a buzzsaw against vastly improved Blackwater while last night's loss to NLEX was largely a function of Robert Bolick exploding for a career-high 46 points.
Coach Ayo, one of the brilliant coaching minds in the country, has a point.
A few bounces here and there and Converge could easily be 2-2.
Instead, they're 0-4 while being unkindly, unjustly vilified as propagating basketball's mortal sin.
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