TANDUAY Coach Lawrence Chongson promised team big boss Bong Tan that he will deliver him a championship on their sixth season in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) D-League.
The league’s sixth season comes to an end on Thursday and Chongson is one win away from keeping his promise.
The Tanduay coach is now keeping his fingers crossed that the Rhum Masters have enough gas in the tank when they face the Phoenix Accelerators in the deciding Game Three of their titular series for the PBA D-League Foundation Cup.
“Its purely instinct. All we want is to live another day. I hope the guys have enough energy to battle on Thursday,” said Chongson, after his troop dealt the Accelerators an 89-75 defeat in Game Two to force a winner-take-all in their best-of-three championship series.
Winning Game Two should give the Rhum Masters the psychological advantage on Thursday, but Chongson is not counting on that.
“Seven years ago with UE [University of the East] we also lost the first game but managed to even the series. Come do-or-die game we lost by 30 points. I just hope this time the ending would be different. I hope theirs wouldn’t be a déjà vu,” the Tanduay coach said.
After a poor showing in Game One, Gelo Alolino bounced back on Tuesday with 26 points to lead the Rhum Masters to the crucial win. Chongson is once again counting on his team captain along with teammates Reden Celda and Kevin Ferrer.
“People are already writing us off, but it’s a testament na habang may buhay, may pag-asa,” Chongson said.
But Chongson knows well that the Accelerators would be just as determined. Phoenix, which won the Aspirants Cup is seeking a season sweep.
Phoenix Coach Eric Gonzales also offered no excuses for loss in Game Two, admitting his guys were outhustled by the Rhum Masters.
But Mac Belo, last conference’s Most Valuable Player (MVP), remains optimistic.
“Malaki ang tiwala ko sa team namin,” said Belo, who scored 16 points before being ejected in the closing minutes of Game Two.
Mike Tolomia, who was named conference MVP, struggled on two-of-10 shooting on Tuesday as did Ed Daquioag and Roger Pogoy, who combined for eight-of-20 shooting. Gonzales hopes the trio, as well as Belo would come up big in Game Three.
Image credits: PBA image