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| The Official Newsletter of Colegio de San Juan de Letran - Intramuros, Manila |
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June 2010 |
News Index/ Sports News
Knights overachieve in PBL debut
by www.mypbl.com
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Sports News
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No matter what happens in their last semis game tomorrow, Toyota Otis-Letran coach Louie Alas has every reason to celebrate for what his gallant boys have achieved so far in the ongoing PBL Unity Cup.
For all the pains and struggles they suffered along the way - not to mention the long hours they spent in plotting their strategies - the Knights have proven that they can be at par with the best, if not be the best in the league in the near future.
For reaching the semifinal round, the Knights have already overachieved themselves, thus making their initial foray in the country's premier amateur league a big success and worthy to remember many times over.
Credit goes to Alas, whose patience paid off handsomely to a team that was not initially given a chance, even a slim one, to compete well in a league that has improved tremendously to such extent that some collegiate teams are eager to join the PBL in the hope of gaining the much-needed experience.
But Alas and his bunch of energetic warriors proved them wrong.
"Overall, I'm so proud with what we achieved so far and you have to give it to the boys for playing so hard and listening well to my instructions," said the youthful coach.
Their mission will not stop there, though. After the PBL Unity Cup, the Knights are going to defend their NCAA title where they are slightly more fancied than San Sebastian and San Beda to reign once again.
"We learned a lot of things in the PBL and we're going to treasure it because I'm sure it will help up us in our guest for back-to-back championships in the NCAA.
Still there are a lot of things to be achieved and I emphasized that to my players," said the former Adamson star who is so thankful for the unconditional support given by Toyota Otis boss Rey Oben and Letran's Fr. Edwin Lao.
The Knights have beaten all seven other teams in the league except for early finalist Viva Mineral Water-FEU and defending champion Hapee Toothpaste.
They advanced to the quarterfinal round armed with a twice-to-beat advantage for emerging with the superior quotient among Sunkist-UST, Montana Pawnshop, Lee Pipes-Ateneo and Blustar Detergent.
The Jewels forced them into a rubber match in their quarterfinals showdown but Ronjay Enrile, Dennis Daa, Aaron Aban and spitfire Boyet Bautista were up to the challenge as they conspired in one decisive spurt that finally broke Montana's back.
In the ongoing semis, they lost to the Water Force, and again by a big margin, but bounced back mightily in their second game against perennial title contender Welcoat Paints, scoring a thrilling 71-68 win in a performance that sent shockwaves in the league.
And only two days back, the Knights gave the Teeth Sparklers a whale of a fight before bowing out, 68-61, in a game they dominated for more than three quarters until Cebu standout Reed Juntilla came through with a booming three-point shot which turned out to be a dagger that hit them straight in their heart.
"We're already out of the finals picture but we still played to win. Kita nyo naman, muntil na naming silang matalo. That's my philosophy, kailangan todo bigay ka dahil mahirap maging habit ang pagiging complacent," said Alas who still rued some of the missed opportunities that could have put them in better
position in the finals.
"I'm satisfied with our performance, no doubt about that. Pero sayang ang ibang opportunities na nawala sa amin, sana we're still in the race for the second finals berth," said Alas who picked the cat-quick Enrile as the one who made the biggest impact among his players.
Alas is also delightedly surprised with the performance dished out by Aban and Bautista each game, saying: "They played beyond my expectation, akala mo mga beterano na sila."
But before the Knights picked their rhythm, there were times in their first few weeks in the league that some of them would almost like to cover their faces with either their jerseys or towels in total embarrassment after absorbing one blowout loss after another.
Their opening game was a forgettable one, losing to the Water Force, 62-77, after falling behind as many as 24 points, but things started to brighten up when they beat the Detergent Kings, 77-68, for their first win.
Knowing how stiff the competition now in the PBL, Alas has promised to double, if not triple his effort in the next conference in the hope of surpassing their achievement in the Unity Cup - even only a chance to play in the finals is enough.
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