MONTALBAN – A veteran player in the mold of Maverick Ahanmisi was what Terrafirma badly missed in its 109-95 overtime loss to TNT in their PBA Philippine Cup game on Friday night at the Ynares Center.
Coach Ronald Tubid said the 34-year-old guard would have made a difference when the going got tough late in regulation and in the extra period when the Tropang 5G’s experience obviously spelled the big difference.
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The Dyip led by as many as 16 points but couldn’t get the job done, before finally falling apart in overtime when TNT scored 10 straight unanswered points.
“Kulang kami sa beterano. Mahirap na kalaban ang experienced team,” said Tubid following the close loss - their fourth straight for a 1-5 record.
Acquired in a trade with Barangay Ginebra for Terrafirma’s first-round pick in Season 51 along with Aljon Mariano, the older brother of shooting guard Jerrick Ahanmisi has yet to suit up for his new team as he’s still nursing an injury to his big toe.
But Tubid said the team is not trying to hurry things up for the Fil-Am guard.
“Hindi naman namin siya minamadali. Gusto namin totally healthy siya pag naglaro na siya,” he added.
Ahanmisi has already joined the Dyip in practices although he’s only allowed to do shooting drills and has yet to participate in scrimmages. At most, Tubid hopes to have Ahanmisi finally playing at least two or three weeks from now.
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