IT was not the start that Terrafirma, a team that was coming off a major playoff run last season, wanted as the Dyip suffered a blowout defeat in the opener of the PBA 49th Season Governors’ Cup.
The Dyip were drubbed by Converge, 127-95, on Wednesday in a game where they trailed by as many as 33 points and conceded 47 points in one quarter against the FiberXers.
Stanley Pringle had 19 points, four rebounds, and seven assists while also nailing 2-of-3 four-pointers in the game, while Christian Standhardinger had 17 points and six rebounds, but the two Terrafirma players failed to get the win in their respective debuts for the squad.
It was an uncharacteristic loss for a Dyip team that reached the quarterfinals of last season's PBA Philippine Cup where it even sent eventual finalist San Miguel to a do-or-die ballgame.
Juami Tiongson admitted chemistry was a problem especially with the entry of Antonio Hester, who joined the team on Monday to replace Brandon Lee Edwards, who sustained an injury.
“Kasi we are figuring it out in our practice games bago ma-injure si Brandon. Dumating si Hester, and it’s not his fault. Dumating siya Monday na, hindi siya nakapag-practice ng Monday. Basically, nakapag-practice lang siya Tuesday,” said Tiongson.
“Lahat kami lost kasi hindi kami in sync. Hindi namin alam ‘yung plays. If one guy hindi na alam ‘yung play, sira na agad ‘yung play. It’s not his fault. ‘Yun lang talaga ang situation na nalagay kami,” said Tiongson.
Tiongson though is not exempting himself from the blame especially after his woeful shooting where he only made three of his 14 shots from the field. Though he made 2-of-4 from threes, he went 0-of-4 from fours, and was even worst from twos after he made just 1-of-7.
“Struggle ako. Sanay ako maglaro kay Brandon and C-Stan. If you see, hindi ako makapunta sa spots ko, clogged ‘yung lane kasi parehas sila (Hester and Standhardinger) naka-occupy sa same space,” said Tiongson.
“But that’s on me. No excuse. Kailangan kong bumawi. I’ll be able to figure it out,” he added.
Looking back, Tiongson said he would have rather not took the three four-point shots.
“Bad shots actually. Kailangan ko mag-adjust. Kailangan ko rin i-figure out kung kalian ‘yung good shot to take sa four-point shot,” said Tiongson.
Terrafirma is already a team in transition even before Hester came in. The Dyip lost Rookie of the Year Stephen Holt and Isaac Go after giving them up to Barangay Ginebra in exchange of Standhardinger and Pringle.
Javi Gomez de Liano, another vital cog to Terrafirma’s playoff run during the PBA Philippine Cup, opted to sign for Korea during the offseason.
Despite the departures, Tiongson knows the capacity of the team once they already figure things out which he hopes would come at the soonest with Terrafirma facing NorthPort with just a day rest.
“Kailangan lang talaga ma-figure out ‘yung chemistry namin at spacing namin. Talagang ‘yung spacing namin, pangit. Kahit pangit ‘ynug offense namin, ‘yung defense namin, pangit talaga. Hindi kami in sync with each other. Hindi namin napapasok kung ano ‘yung gusto ng isa’t isa.”
“Hopefully, masolusyunan namin on [Friday],” said Tiongson.
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