THEY LIVED and died beyond the arc.
For a while, the Sunkist-UST Tigers seemed headed for a cinderella run in just their maiden season in the recently-concluded Philippine Basketball League, after surprising the league with an impressive five-game winning streak that gave them an 8-4 card and the second slot in the four-team semifinals.
But it turned out that the Tigers’ hot shooting from beyond the arc betrayed them in the semifinals as they bowed out, losing all their last seven games.
After averaging nearly 11 three-point conversions in the eliminations, the semifinals was altogether a different story as the Tigers’ wingmen were clipped resulting in cold shooting as they only managed 7.5 treys per game.
The offensive 1-2 punch of the Tigers struggled in the face of the no non-sense defense of the other teams.
Rising star Jemal Vizcarra’s shooting turned sour in the semis. The sweet shooting 6’ 2” guard was limited to just 8.85 points an outing, a far cry from his phenomenal 14.5 points average in the eliminations. The same fate befell former Metropolitan Basketball Association’s hotshot Alex Compton, the team’s acknowledged team leader, who struggled for an 11.57 shooting clip and four assists per game from his previous 12.67 scoring norm and 5.25 feeds in the eliminations.
Interim head coach Nel Parado, who substituted for the now retired UST coach Aric del Rosario, could not find the formula for their success in the eliminations as they were repeatedly outsmarted by the other three semifinalists in the double round robin semis. The former Cagayan de Oro Amigos and national women’s team mentor pointed out to the team’s inexperience and the injuries and fatigue as the factors that slowed them down in the semis.
“Sila Alex (Compton), Jemal (Vizcarra) at si Emerson (Oreta) ay hindi pa 100%. May mga tama sila sa hita at bugbog sa elimination games namin. Napaka-physical kasi ng mga laro lalo sila iyong mga nagdadala ng opensa ng team,” Parado said.
The amazing escape acts they weaved in the eliminations were nowhere to be found in the tougher semifinal stretch as they suffered two 1-point losses to eventual champion Fash Liquid and to Blu Stars in their play-off for third while blowing out three of their games by an average of 14 points.
If there was any consolation the hard-luck Tigers got, it was in the individual awards.
Vizcarra edged out Viva-Far Eastern University standout Arwin Santos, Welcoat’s Jay-r Reyes and Montaña’s Ron Jay Enrile for the Newcomer of the Year award. Dondon Villamin, who was the only consistent Tiger throughout the tournament with a solid average of 8.21 points, 2.47 assists, and three rebounds, was given the Sudden Impact Player title. Foreign-bred Compton, on the other hand, was included in the Mythical Ten and was one of the recipients of the Commissioner’s Choice Awards, an honor bestowed on players whose performance and presence have helped improved the league’s image and best exemplifies the objective of the league.
He was cited for the courtesy he displayed towards opponents, the respect he gave to the game and league officials and his willingness to make his teammates better. The other two recipients of the honor were Most Valuable Player Peter June Simon and Philippine Basketball Association’s No.1 draft pick Richard Alavarez, both from Fash. Alder T. Almo
