Perennial contention would’ve been the trajectory of Terrafirma had the ball club built on its historic success in last season’s PBA Philippine Cup.
That’s the kind of optimism Stephen Holt had with that special batch, which the Dyip shockingly dissolved by trading away the seasoned guard and Isaac Go to Ginebra for decorated vets Christian Standhardinger and Stanley Pringle.
“I wouldn’t say a championship within a year or two, but I think we were headed in that direction of being a perennial playoff team,” Holt told reporters during the league’s Media Day at the Le Parc Event Hall in Pasay, Tuesday.
That deal also involved a swap of Season 49 first-round draft picks, just a day before the proceedings.
And it stunned the league given the pieces involved – especially on Terrafirma’s side.
Go and Holt were integral pieces of the Dyip’s historic quarterfinal run in the last all-Filipino meet, which was their first since 2016 – and their first under Coach Johnedel Cardel.
They even managed to bring San Miguel to a do-or-die.
That conference as a whole was enough to convince Holt that they were truly ready to become a consistent playoff team – had they been kept together.
“We had so many close losses last year in the Philippine Cup,” he reflected. “I mean, losing to TNT by three, Meralco by three, Isaac almost having a game-tying shot against San Miguel, we almost could’ve had six, seven, eight wins.
“We understood that, and I think that we put the league on notice on how competitive we really were,” added the 2023 top overall pick.
It could’ve been special but Holt, nonetheless, will only remember their time in Terrafirma for what they have accomplished as a crew.
“We were able to build something special over there. To this day, I’m still close friends with some of the guys over there,” he said.
“I was able to have lunch with the coaching staff, management, and a couple of the players at different times before the Draft. So I was able to get that closure with the guys, But obviously, our relationships will continue on into the future.”
What he plans to do now is to sustain that run he had in his rookie year as he writes a new chapter of his career with the league’s most popular team.
“I think the easiest part of my transition into a new team here is that the culture here is already set. The expectations are there. I know what it means to put on this jersey. And we’re competing for championships,” he said.
“That’s what we’re here to strive for. That’s what I’m about. I’m here to win. I proved that last season by taking Terrafirma to the playoffs and so, with the way I play,, my attitude to the game and what I’m about, I think will fit in really well with this culture.”
