UTSUNOMIYA, Japan – San Miguel coach Jorge Gallent admitted there were challenges in the build-up for the EASL Champions Week particularly in bringing in a second import and blending with the team.
Gallent on Jessie Govan debut
Gallent said the lack of chemistry showed in the contest with the core of the Governors’ Cup team playing with Jessie Govan for the first time in a competitive game.
Gallent though said Govan is not to blame as the Beermen even put together a strong showing, he believes, in the second half but still led to a 96-68 loss to the Ryukyu Golden Kings.
Gallent said that unlike SMB, Ryukyu has been playing with multiple imports in Jack Cooley and Allen Durham for several games already.
“The imports here have played for a long, long time. We just got our import a week ago. It’s hard,” Gallent said.
“I think getting an import, the most important thing is to blend with his team. For Jessie to blend with us, he will have a hard time,” said Gallent.
Cameron Clark had 25 points and four rebounds for San Miguel, but Govan had only seven points and played 15 minutes.
Gallent said he feels for Govan as he is doing his best for the team, but the little preparation was evident.
“It was hard for Jessie. He just arrived. He only practiced for three to four days. He had a hard time adjusting to our system. But I know Jessie wants to win. I know he did his best,” said Gallent.
The San Miguel mentor though said there is still a reason to be optimistic heading into the final group stage match against Anyang KGC on Saturday in Okinawa.
The Beermen already left for Okinawa on Friday morning for the match against Anyang KGC.
“We just have to adjust. We adjusted too long (against Ryukyu). We adjusted well in the second half. In the first half, we just gave up too much offensive boards… We picked it up in the second half, but we were down already by 21 (in the first half). The second half was good. The first half was lousy,” said Gallent.
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