Caloy Garcia and the Letran Knights get
back to the business of winning in the PBA and the D-League.
by rick olivares pic from abs-cbn
Barely three days after their heartbreaking loss in
the NCAA Finals, Caloy Garcia and the Letran Knights have to put everything
behind them and concentrate on the here and now.
“Obviously, we would have wanted to gift the Letran
community with a championship,” said Garcia who just concluded his first NCAA
season at the helm of his alma mater. “We would have also wanted to win it for
Franz Dysam who suffered a personal tragedy. But I guess it was just not meant
to be.”
Dysam and his girlfriend were shot following a Letran
NCAA match against Lyceum of the Philippines University. Dysam’s girlfriend
Joanne Sordan were shot at by motorcycle riding gunmen at the corner of N.
Domingo and Araneta Avenue in San Juan. Sordan succumbed to her gunshot wounds
later at the San Juan Medical Center while Dysam suffered some bullet wounds.
Hours after the loss to San Beda, Garcia, assistant
Mike Buendia and center Raymond Almazan flew to Davao to join the Rain or Shine
Elasto Painters who were going to play the Alaska Aces for their PBA season
opener.
Almazan, the Elasto Painters’ number three overall
pick of the 2013 draft was not sent in as he had not sufficiently recovered
from a hard game the day before. But it didn’t matter as ROS white washed the Aces 87-74 before a packed
crowd at the University of Southeastern Philippines gym.
“It was good to get a win,” said Garcia of Rain or
Shine’s victory. “It doesn’t fully erase the pain of the loss but it’s still a
win. You have to forget everything and move forward.”
Garcia got a second win as his PBA D-League team,
Hog’s Breath crushed Wangs Basketball, 109-93, for their third straight victory
in the Aspirants’ Cup. Hog’s Breath has four Letran players in Jonathan
Belorio, Jamil Gabawan, Kevin Racal, and Ford Ruaya.
“There’s no time to think about it because there are
other responsibilities,” admitted Garcia’s long time assistant, Mike Buendia
after the Hog’s Breath win. “You have to be professional about it.”
The Knights’ starting point guard, Mark Cruz, suited
up after the Hog’s Breath game for Cagayan Valley. “Sayang talaga,” rued Cruz.
“At least lumaban kami.”
When asked about the weight of losing two consecutive
NCAA Finals, Cruz acknowledged it was a heavy burden but it doesn’t mean that
he or his team should give it up. “Susubukan na lang namin ulit next year,” he
promised.
The Knights will be losing the league’s Most Valuable
Player in Almazan as well as Belorio and point guard Franz Dysam.
Garcia hopes to develop young understudies Chester
Saldua who stands 6’5” and Felix Apreku who is a 6’3” forward. “Not enough
pieces so we will have to look around as well,” noted Garcia of his pieces for
Letran next season. Coming back will be Cruz, Racal, Gabawan, Ruaya, and their
wondrous pair of tough combo guards McJour Luib and Rey Nambatac.
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