|
 TOKUSHIMA—The
bond of brothers is about to break up—literally though,
and not figuratively.
The
members of San Miguel-Team Pilipinas are on their
separate ways following a five-month journey that fell
short of its destination.
Of the
15-man squad that includes reserves, 12 have been on the
team since the announcement of the original roster that
was made in March. Since then, it’s been about playing
together on road trips that have taken them as far as
Serbia and as long as 10 to 12 days in foreign land.
Now, as
the Olympic dream ends, so is the togetherness. At
least, physically.
“It’ll
be tough,” Jimmy Alapag said. “You’ve spent a lot of
time with these guys. I’ve always said the amount of
time you spend on and off court, these guys are family.
This is an experience you take in for the rest of your
life.”
“It’s
gonna be tough, man,” Jayjay Helterbrand echoed. “You’ve
built relationships with a bunch of these guys. Come
game time in the PBA, it’s hard to be pumped because
you’ve become close to some of the guys, like Mick [Pennisi].
I hated his guts but now we’re friends so I’m gonna take
it easy on him.”
In a
league that plays only 10 clubs, the PBA has spawned
rivalries that have crossed between different teams. At
some point, Red Bull or Alaska has crossed paths with,
say Purefoods or San Miguel and vice versa. But no team
has formed such intense competition between other ball
clubs than Ginebra.
Mick
Pennisi’s Red Bull has had it personally with Ginebra,
an indifference—animosity, even—that has simmered down
during the RP team experience.
“Before
we started we had a meeting at the Shangri-La Hotel, I
wanted to clear the air straight away especially with
the Ginebra boys,” Pennisi said. “Because we haven’t
talked off the court; when we play it’s a rivalry.
Jayjay [Helterbrand] has been a bit of surprise to me.
Now we’re good friends. We used to hit each other, talk
trash before this RP team. So it’ll be funny when we
play for our mother teams.”
Alapag,
whose Talk ’N Text club has had many battles with
Ginebra, agrees the bond has become so tight he doesn’t
see it changing over the course.
“I’m
sure we’ll have stories when we play against each other
but nothing’s gonna change,” Alapag said. “For Jayjay
and I personally we’ve become really close over the last
few months, but every time we play each other I know we
bring out the best in each other and hopefully we just
continue to improve and help our teams get
championships.”
Kerby
Raymundo kept it real, saying that the friendships that
have been built is just as important as fulfilling their
professional obligations.
“Pagdating
sa game, food for the table ’yan. Kumbaga,
wala munang kaibigan,” he said. “Pero pagdating
sa labas gan’un pa rin ang treatment.
Magkakaibigan pa rin.” |
