MANILA – Their semifinals finish during the 2019 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup serves as motivation for the NorthPort Batang Pier as the stalled PBA Philippine Cup resumes next month.
Batang Pier team manager Bonnie Tan believes that the squad now has what it takes to go all the way in the playoffs with the return of injured players Robert Bolick, Jonathan Grey and Bradwyn Guinto.
“Hindi naman siguro masamang mag-ambisyon na baka lang maging pandemic champion dahil short conference lang,” Tan said in an interview with ONE PH’s The Chasedown.
“Ang laking bagay ‘yung binigay sa kanila na break na maka-recover agad,” he added, referring to the indefinite suspension of the season for six months now following the coronavirus outbreak.
Even with their decimated roster last year, the Batang Pier made it to the semis anchored on the workhorse effort of big man Christian Standhardinger and import Michael Qualls.
As the No. 8 seeded team, NorthPort stunned top seed NLEX Road Warriors by beating them twice in a row in the quarterfinals arranging a semis series against Barangay Ginebra. The Kings exposed the worn-out Batang Pier though by scoring a 3-1 win in their best-of-five duel.
“Last conference nasa semis kami. So baka puwede nating ma-improve ‘pag kumpleto kami,” said Tan.
“Kumpleto na kami ngayon, kaya excited kami. Pati sila (Batang Pier head) coach Pido (Jarencio) excited na for the coming conference,” he added./PN
