PLAYING minus an import had its upside, too.
Terrafirma coach Johnedel Cardel admitted his second half spat with Thomas de Thaey led to the benching of the import the rest of the way in the Dyip’s 109-102 loss to the Meralco Bolts in Friday’s PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
Dyip see silver lining in loss
The loss may be the eighth straight for Terrafirma to end its campaign at 2-9, but Cardel would rather look at the brighter side of things.
“Kung kailan kami walang import, gumanda pa ang laro namin,” said the Dyip coach, noting how the team gave Meralco a big scare in the homestretch of a game the Bolts badly needed to win.
“Kung na-sustain lang talaga namin. Pero good game naman kami.”
With the way Terrafirma engaged a Meralco side with Shonn Miller on board in a tight endgame battle, Cardel believes the Dyip could be very competitive for the season-ending Philippine Cup.
“At least dun sa nakita namin positive kami na pagdating ng All-Filipino kaya din naming magpakita,” he said. “Basta maging disiplinado lang kami sa opensa, pati sa depensa.”
“Nandun na kami, pero nanggigil na naman kami. Hinabol yung lamang namin, pinilit naming tumira agad kaya nawala yung rhythm namin. Ganun talaga ang mangyayari.”
Terrafirma trailed by as many as 11 points in the third quarter when de Thaey was recalled on the bench.
But soon after, the Dyip got their acts together behind Juami Tiongson, Javi Gomez de Liano, and rookie Stephen Holt that eventually they grabbed the lead at the end of the third quarter, 87-86, and extended it to six points with two minutes gone by in the fourth.
Terrafirma however, failed to sustain the momentum as Meralco made its move, tying the game at 98-all before scoring eight straight unanswered points to take control of the match for good, 106-98 with 3:27 left.
Of course, de Thaey could have made a difference had he been playing his usual game.
Unfortunately, he didn’t which led to the shouting match at the Terrafirma bench early in the third.
“Hindi siya maka-sealed sa tao niya, laging nakakalusot. And nagrereklamo siya na bakit hindi raw siya pinapasahan ng teammates, e paano nga siya papasahan hindi niya makuha yung advantage niya,” said Cardel.
Cardel asked import to play defense
As Meralco import Shonn Miller scored on back-to-back layups, Cardel sued for time and asked de Thaey to play defense.
“Sabi ko dumipensa ka kasi pinapadaan niya yung tao niya. Sumagot sa akin na malakas ang boses kaya nag-init ang ulo ko,” he said of the incident. “Sinasabi ko lang yung mali niya, sumagot siya ng ganun. Kaya sabi ko upo ka ngayon.”
The 6-foot-8 Belgian never did return and finish with just seven points and five rebounds.
And the unfortunate part, the 32-year-old de Thaey never apologized to the coaching staff and the team after the game.
“Nakatingin pa sa akin ng masama,” said Cardel of the import.
But he’s setting the incident aside and already looks forward to the All-Filipino, where he’ll depend on the same local crew that gave Meralco the fits.
“Bawi tayo sa All-Filipino, pakita niyo sa all-Filipino na kaya ninyo,” Cardel told the Dyip.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
