Terrafirma head coach Johnedel Cardel didn’t take much of the credit after ending their harrowing dry spell in the PBA Governors’ Cup on Thursday.
Instead, the seasoned mentor deflected all the praise to his remaining players for soldiering on despite the manpower problems that have been hounding the rebuilding Dyip since before Season 49 raised its curtains last August.
“I give credit to all my players,” he proudly said shortly after their 84-72 upset of Group A top-seed TNT at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
“Even though we were outnumbered — nine, 10 players lang naglalaro — we’re still fighting, looking for our first win. We got it tonight,” he added.
Terrafirma lost its first eight games of the conference and injuries are mainly to blame for that. The team lost original import Brandon Edwards days before the season opener due to an ACL issue.
Cardel and Co. managed to bring in an old reliable in Antonio Hester but the unit struggled to find its footing, for it had also been learning how to play with new guys Christian Standhardinger and Stanley Pringle at the same time.
Losses would soon pile up, and it didn’t help at all that key cogs got hurt one after the other – from Juami Tiongson suffering a partial hamstring tear to Standhardinger going down with a hyperextended knee.
Frustration, needless to say, mounted.
The Dyip had been trying to keep their momentum from a historic quarterfinal run in the Season 48 Philippine Cup, where they pushed the twice-to-beat San Miguel to a do-or-die.
Terrafirma actually had opportunities to at least stay alive in this conference, though, only to end up heartbroken – not once, but twice.
The team lost to Magnolia and Converge, respectively, by just a point, with the 100-99 loss to the FiberXers the toughest as it dashed their hopes.
But then, they stuck together. And on Thursday, the Dyip finally chalked up their first win of the season, leaving Cardel heaving a huge sigh of relief.
The win did not just end a nine-game losing skid that dates back from last season. It was also their first win in 19 meetings against TNT over the last seven seasons, according to PBA chief statistician Fidel Mangonon III.
If anything, this stretch of struggle also allowed the coaches to find silver linings, particularly from rookies Paolo Hernandez and Didat Hanapi.
And, of course, the resurgence of sorts of the 37-year-old Pringle, who starred against the Tropang Giga with 18 points and five rebounds.
“Kahit nine, 10 players lang ako, I keep them positive,” Cardel said. “I told the boys na maglalaro sila, so be ready … They [remained] positive.”
Pringle himself couldn’t feel more relieved.
“Coach John definitely kept talking to us,” reflected the former BPC winner, who’s known the former cager turned coach since their ASEAN Basketball League days.
“We had two close games – we should’ve won those two games – but we stayed positive. We kept pushing in practice and we came out with a win.”
Now, with a game left in their conference, Cardel and his charges hope to end their campaign on a high note when they battle Meralco on Saturday.
“After the first win, we’ll see again – we’ll see on Saturday. Ayun lang. Tomorrow we view all the tendencies, the plays. Hopefully, makuha ulit namin,” he said.
