Terrafirma head coach Johnedel Cardel has no intentions whatsoever of letting their chance to reach the PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals slip away.
The Dyip bolstered their bid of making it to the playoffs’ first round following a thrilling 110-108 victory over the skidding NorthPort on Wednesday night in a victory that meant so much for the former cager turned bench tactician.
“We have a chance now to get into the quarterfinals, so iga-grab na namin ‘to,” he said during the postgame presser at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Terrafirma notched their fifth win of the all-Filipino tilt and improved to 5-5, the very first time the franchise registered that many wins under Cardel.
Even the 53-year-old could only breathe a sigh of relief to have finally exceeded four wins in the six years and counting he’s been at the helm.
“Lagi na lang four,” said Cardel, who replaced Ricky Dandan back in 2018, when the franchise was still carrying the Columbian banner.
But of course, the whole crew does not want to stop there. They want to make the quarters, which, if they do, would mark the franchise’s second trip ever to the said phase after the Mahindra Floodbuster in the 2016 Governors’ Cup.
“Sobrang thankful kami. We have a chance now to get into the quarterfinals, so iga-grab na namin ‘to,” he said. “We will start in practice.”
Thus, the huge need to receive contributions from each player from Terrafirma if they are to accomplish their goal of qualifying.
Cardel wants his Dyip to do away from being too reliant on their 1-2 punch of veteran guards Juami Tiongson and Stephen Holt, in which his wards responded with by putting on a collective effort to top the Batang Pier.
(C) PBA Images
Holt did lead the way with 22 points that included the game-winning layup along with 12 rebounds and five assists, with Tiongson adding 21. But the other three starters came through with solid double-digit scoring performances.
Rookie Louie Sangalang, for one, fired a season-high 19 points and five rebounds. The frontcourt tandem of Javi Gomez de Liano and Isaac Go, meanwhile, chipped in 14 and 10 markers, respectively.
Definitely, they want that kind of effort against Magnolia on May 3, where Terrafirma will try to get that sixth win to formally secure a quarters spot.
“All of them talagang willing to sacrifice na maging competitive kami,” Cardel said.
“Sabi ko hindi tayo puwedeng laging Holt o laging Juami. Everybody should contribute. ‘Pag nagcontribute lahat, malaki yung chance namin manalo.”
