Though he did not have the debut he envisioned, new Columbian Dyip head coach Johnedel Cardel like what he had seen from his wards on Friday.
His Dyip bowed to the Meralco Bolts, 109-106, in the 2018 PBA Governors’ Cup opener at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City, but it had been a game where Columbian had a great chance of upending last season’s runners-up.
Columbian roared to a good start that they even posted a 14-point lead in the second quarter. And when Meralco built a six-point lead, 106-100, with 3:11 remaining in the match, the Dyip evened things quickly with a mini 6-0 run.
Unfortunately, the breaks did not go Columbian’s way — import Akeem Wright missed a mid-range jumper with 54 seconds left, while Jackson Corpuz’s point-blank shot off a Wright find got smothered by KG Cañaleta.
It may had been an unfitting end to their gallant stand, but for Cardel, it had been a marked improvement by his wards most especially on defense, which he felt the team had lacked back in the 2018 Commissioner’s Cup.
“Yung sinasabi kong tough defense namin na wala kami last conference, for almost one month trinabaho namin yun so I see the improvement naman ng team,” said Cardel, who took the coaching reins from Ricky Dandan.
And defense will be Columbian’s bread-and-butter for the season-ending conference, said Cardel.
“Alam naman natin lahat na malalakas lahat ng imports so sabi ko nga sa kanila na every game is a championship game, kailangan every game we’re ready to play, we’re ready to play defense,” said the De La Salle alumnus.
“I’m a type of coach na never akong nagmumura, pakita mo sa akin na you can play defense inside even though you are not scoring pero you’re there to play defense and run the system, you can play a lot of minutes.”
