NorthPort coach Bonnie Tan admitted that Danny Ildefonso’s comments online fired up the whole crew when they faced, coincidentally, Converge on Thursday.
The FiberXers assistant coach recently dished out “farm team” allegations as he responded to some netizens on Facebook about the contract situation of his son, Dave, with the Batang Pier, with both camps yet to agree on a deal.
The PBA Commissioner’s Office has since fined the elder Ildefonso P20,000 for issuing statements detrimental to the league.
Tan and Co., for their part, made their own kind of statement as well, beating Converge, 135-109, for their second win in a row in the Governors’ Cup.
“Prior to the game, we opened that up,” he said during the postgame presser at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium. “I think we were all challenged by that statement.”
Leading that revenge game of sorts was Arvin Tolentino, who dropped 51 big points in a record-setting performance from the star forward.
Per PBA stats chief Fidel Mangonon, it is the first 50-point game since former NorthPort star — and his ex-Ginebra teammate — Stanley Pringle in 2018.
It is also the first 51-point game in the league in 20 years or since Asi Taulava in Talk N Text’s 131-105 win over Purefoods in the 2004 Fiesta Conference.
Tan admitted that he and the Batang Pier read all the news reports about the two-time PBA MVP’s comments, and he actually expressed gratitude to all those as it led to the huge win, which hiked their card to 2-1 in Group A.
“Siguro, gusto ko rin magpasalamat sa mga ganung write-up. Because of those write-ups, na-challenge ‘yung team — not only the players, but also ‘yung buong team namin,” the soft-spoken veteran bench tactician said.
Still, Tan and Ildefonso acted civilly. Both men shook hands during the customary postgame handshake at center court after the final buzzer.
“OK naman, kamayan,” said the 51-year-old, whose side dragged Converge to its second straight loss.
“It’s sports. Fair naman ‘yung laro natin kanina.”
