Chot Reyes of Talk N Text and Jong Uichico of Ginebra were almost a study in contrast during the post-game interviews last Wednesday. The usually affable Reyes was uncommonly reserved with his statements, carefully choosing his words, while Uichico uttered sentences in his typical matter-of-fact way, with a half-smile on his face. It’s as if the shoe was on the other foot.
Reyes’ Tropang Texters have just pulled off a gritty 91-84 come-from-behind victory in Game 4 of their PBA Commissioner’s Cup finals showdown at the Araneta Coliseum, putting them on the verge of a second straight championship. Yet it was Uichico who seemed quite pleased despite the fact the Kings blew a 17-point third quarter lead and dug themselves a deep 1-3 hole in the best-of-seven championship duel.
"I think we did play very well tonight," said Uichico. "I think we defended very well, I think we were able to score in the first half pretty well. We got them to a low-scoring game and that’s what we want."
The Texters can wrap up the series today and follow up on their season-opening Philippine Cup title conquest. But they must not look that far ahead, according to Reyes, who predicted Ginebra will go into Game 5 even more fired up.
There is a big difference between a team trying to even up a series and another trying to stay alive, Reyes pointed out.
"Today they came in with their best effort as a conscious decision," he explained. "On Friday they’re coming in with an even greater effort as a no-other- recourse, no-other-way-to-go situation.
"They are going to be a lot looser. I’m sure their coach is going to tell them.
‘We have nothing to lose, ibigay n’yo na lahat.’ So that’s going to be a different situation than this game. So, like I said, we have to not only match their effort but also play well. We have to be at our best–best effort and best execution. Our best game ever hopefully comes on Friday."
Uichico wanted the same from his charges while maintaining his team still has a lot of fight left.
"Meron pa naman (chance)," he stated. "Siyempre mahirap, 3-1, pero ganoon talaga. It doesn’t mean that we’ll come out Friday without a fight. We’ve got to come in every game and try to win.
"Alam naman nating it takes four to win, so if we win Friday…. Alam naming mahirap but nothing is impossible. So, one game at a time. If we win Friday, (we) look forward to Sunday."
Uichico started priming his players up for today’s encounter by admitting it was his fault they lost the chance to equalize.
"They just couldn’t sustain their efforts, not because they didn’t want to, but because they just played extended minutes in today’s game. If they were able to sustain (their) efforts in the first half I guess it could have been different. We kept the scoring somewhere in the 80s where it’s more our game.
"The mistake I probably made was I extended too minutes to the guys, and this was evident in the latter third quarter and the whole fourth. I’m sure I extended them too many minutes. The decision I made backfired."
