Yesterday was another one of those "lagare" days for this writer.
First order of business was to cover the Tournament of the Philippines seventh leg held at the Emilio Aguinaldo College gym where the M. Lhuillier Cebu Ninos took on the MP Gensan Warriors.
The Ninos enter the contest with a sense of invincibility with a remarkable 30-game winning streak that catapulted them to the Liga Pilipinas Conference III crown and two TOP leg crowns.
Most of the people who followed this joint tournament of the PBL and Liga expected Cebu to win again. However, the Warriors showed up and surprised everyone.
Center Christian Nicdao, known for his heydays with Far Eastern University in the UAAP in the late-90's and early-2000's, and ex-UE big man Angel Raymundo were able to contain the Cebu big men led by Marlon Basco, Ariel Mepana and Abby Santos, among others.
They led by 13 points on several occasions in the second quarter but as seen in numerous games, kung baga sisiw lang yan sa Ninos. That's because they're used to erasing big leads behind their pressure defense and eventually win those games by lopsided margins.
It looked as though Cebu was on the verge of doing such, erasing an 11-point halftime lead into around five to six points in the third period. But Gensan was just stubborn leaning on Nicdao, Raymundo and a lefty wingman in Jasper Callo and scoring guard John Gonzaga.
Bruce Dacia, who many could recall playing for the San Juan Knights in the defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association, eventually pulled the Ninos to 70-68 with five minutes left to play but a comeback was never to be.
Guard Jonathan Parreno also entered the fray knocked two crucial triples that put the Warriors away and score a knockout victory over the Cebuano cagers.
Gensan won, 77-72, and Cebu's streak came to an end. From the far end, Ninos assistant Willie Generalao gestured this writer like he was saying, "ganun talaga e." On the nearest end are the Warriors jumping for joy after hacking out a breakthrough win.
The Warriors aren't a great team on paper, lots of unknown names who reside from the Gensan-Sarangani area with some living in Davao, but they play tough every game, giving opponents such as Cebu and PBL teams Cobra, Ani-FCA and Ascof Lagundi a hard time.
Then it was off to the Big Dome.
After seeing the end of a remarkable end in the TOP, it was confusion in the UAAP, particularly the UP Fighting Maroons.
Reports say that Aboy Castro is no longer the coach and that ex-Sta Lucia Realty coach Boyet Fernandez, who was hired as consultant over the weekend, was appointed as his successor.
UP lost 87-81 to University of Santo Tomas in overtime no thanks to a late foul by Mike Silungan with three seconds left that enabled Jeric Teng to hit one freethrow that tied the game at 69-all and UP College of Human Kinetics dean Leilani Gonzalo clarified that....
"Coach Aboy Castro informed us two days ago (Wednesday) that he will go on indefinite leave and assistant coach Potit de Vera will be interim coach," said Gonzalo.
Yes, de Vera, according to tweet and fellow sportswriters coached most of the first half but upon arrival, the former FEU-FERN Baby Tams mentor was standing but near the rear end of the Maroons bench.
And near the scorer's table is Fernandez calling most of the plays like he was steering the Realtors to the 2008 PBA Philippine Cup crown with Kelly Williams, Marlou Aquino and Dennis Espino around.
"No comment," Gonzalo said followed by a laugh when asked if Fernandez is part in the selection with regards to appointment of coaches.
If UP officials claim that Fernandez is still the consultant, then it's quite odd to see a consultant acting like he was the coach.
During one timeout, it was visibly seen on television screens that Fernandez mapped out the plays and even called the shots in inserting players like Silungan, Magi Sison (who played well for the Maroons) and Martin Reyes.
And when the horn sounded, Fernandez consoled a dejected Reyes and gave a few words of encouragement and then during the singing of the UST alma matter song, called a team huddle perhaps saying a few good things to say from this loss.
Those events can say that the former PBA guard, who had stints with Sta Lucia, Pop Cola and Purefoods, is truly the lead man for State U.
Assistant coach Jerry Codinera, who spoke to the media (Fernandez refused to comment) and claimed that for now it will be them (the assistant coaches) and Fernandez (consultant) who will handle the team.
"It's us and coach Boyet who will handle the team for now," said Codinera. "Kami naman, we'll just pitch in and give some inputs and since consultant si coach Boyet, he can also say his thoughts."
It's a PR dilemma for the Maroons at this point. More confusion means more speculation, no thanks to conflicting statements and a dubious decision to make at this early part of the UAAP season.
Abangan na lang kung anu susunod na kabanata.
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