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By ADRIAN STEWART CO
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Sunday, February 12, 2017
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TNT Katropa head coach Nash Racela said that they are expecting a huge fight back from the San Miguel Beermen in Game 3 of the 2016-2017 Oppo PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven semifinals tonight at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
In an interview following the Katropa’s 87-85 win in Game 2 on Friday night, Racela said that they are anticipating San Miguel to make some adjustments after his team “unlocked the Beermen’s weakness.”
“Pretty sure they’ll make adjustments, alam nila ginagawa namin. We just try to be ready again next game,” said Racela, who took over the Katropa coaching chores from Joseph Uichico this conference.
Racela admitted that he took a cue from no less than Beermen head coach Leo Austria with the adjustments the Katropa made in recovering from its 111-98 loss in Game 1 last Wednesday.
“I was reading one of the (transcribed) interviews of coach Leo after Game 1 and he said it’s just in the video (Beermen’s weak points), kailangan lang daw panoorin,” said Racela.
“I read it on Thursday night and parang na-challenge ako sa sinabi ni coach Leo. Mukhang hindi ko masyado ginagawa ang trabaho ko,” added the former Far Eastern University Tamaraws mentor.
“So I spent more time watching the video and I saw something, sana ‘yun yung sinasabi niya na nakatago lang,” said Racela, who declined to tell the media what he discovered as “Beermen’s weakness.”
While Racela refused to reveal what he discovered as the Beermen’s weakness, it was evident on Friday night what adjustments the Katropa employ the level the race-to-four series at 1-1.
Racela revised his five players on the floor with a mixture of young rookies and veterans, unlike in Game 1 when he started the younger players and let the veterans come off-the-bench.
He was also successful in limiting the minutes of his players for them to have enough energy until the final stretch. The Katropa extended its rotation of players to 12 while the Beermen kept its usual 9 players, which took its toll in the end.
But with the Beermen’s weakness unlocked, expect Austria to inject more players to his rotation in Game 3 to counter Katropa’s ploy.
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Iloilo City will serve as host to the 2017 edition of the Cong. Toto Defensor Cup pocket tournament that will feature three Manila City-based universities and one from the host city this summer.
According to the pocket tournament organizer Ruding Villaruz, while they are still finalizing the three Manila-based universities (from UAAP and NCAA) that will participate, the third team will be Central Philippine University-Sky Cable.
“It is still tentative as of now, we are still finalizing details,” Villaruz said. “But we will make sure that the event will be a good one for the Ilonggo just like our previous sporting events here.”
However, the Buzzer Beater learned from a source that among those being considered in the four-day pocket tournament at the Pototan Gymnasium are the Far Eastern University Tamaraws and College of St. Benilde Blazers.
If ever, this will serve as a homecoming for Tamaraws guard Augus Vince Denila, who played for Ateneo de Iloilo before. Likewise for Blazers’ Jayjay Domingo of Bacolod and Yankee Haruna, who was born in Iloilo.
Villaruz is behind numerous successful sporting events held in Iloilo City like the Ateneo Lady Eagles-De La Salle University Lady Spikers’ exhibition game last January./PN
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