Although the Globalport Batang Pier succumbed to the Alaska Aces, 4-1 in their PBA Philippine Cup semifinals series, team governor Erick Arejola believes the team is headed in the right direction.
“With a very young team, yun nga, I think we are in the right direction. I hope from these experiences, makapag-build kami. What is important is to stick together as a team and grow,” Arejola said Tuesday.
The Batang Pier tried their best to make the series competitive, although as expected, the Aces romped past their foes. One of the league’s super teams, Alaska held a point differential average of 22.5 in wins, and were simply too overpowering in almost every statistical category.
Though one can argue Globalport holds two of the most extraordinarily talented basketball players in the league today plus a couple of supporters, the rest of the squad can do so much.
Alaska on the other hand has a core of players still in their peak, experienced veterans who can still provide impact, and second- and third-stringers who haven’t even reached their respective primes.
The Globalport side knows such staggering difference, and instead of dwelling on the exit, the Batang Pier isn’t looking at the series as a setback but rather as a building block.
“Wala rin akong masabi sa mga players ko. Yung experience namin, pumasok ng semis as a team, yun ang isang factor din. Medyo beterano ang nakalaban namin. At deserve naman nila (manalo),” head coach Pido Jarencio said.
After all, Globalport continued to exceed expectations. The team finished fifth in the elimination round, tying its record for most elimination round wins with seven.
The team went on to oust Barako Bull and Ginebra in the quarterfinals to covet its first semifinals entry in franchise history.
“Sa amin naman, charge to experience na lang to at marami kaming natutunan,” Jarencio added.
The Batang Pier’s foreseeable future doesn’t hang in the balance. They have a competitive core that can get going in the next few conferences and a few moves or little tweaks to the lineup can make the team even better.
Jarencio believes it is only the start of the team’s rise as one of the more competitive and tougher contenders in the league.
“Marami kaming kailangan i-improve pero ito na yung start. We can build on this and baka maging mas maayos na team kami sa mga susunod na conference,” he said.
