RACAL and Tanduay are one win away from a title duel for the Philippine Basketball Association Developmental League Aspirants’ Cup but Coaches Jerry Codiñera and Lawrence Chongson remain cautious, insisting there’s nothing to celebrate until after their troops get the job done.
“Anything can happen, anything is possible,” said Codiñera of their semifinal matchup against CaféFrance.
“We were expecting to grind it out in this series and that’s exactly what happened in Game One. And that’s the way things are gonna be again on Thursday, so we have to stay focused,” Codiñera warned.
The unassuming coach of the Tile Masters said he anticipates the Bakers to be a lot more determined in Game Two to drag the best-of-three series to sudden-death.
“The key in this series is patience. So we have to be patient no matter what,” Codiñera said. Racal and CaféFrance mixed it up at 3 p.m. at the Ynares Arena in Pasig City.
Racal stunned CaféFrance, 88-86, in Tuesday’s series opener on Sidney Onwubere’s three-point shot at the buzzer.
The Tile Masters will try to finish off the Bakers with Onwubere, Jackson Corpuz, Kent Salado, Allan Mangahas and Rey Nambatac leading the charge.
The other semifinal between Tanduay and Cignal-San Beda comes off at 5 o’clock.
Chongson, who is eyeing a second trip to the finals, knows well that wrapping up the series is like going through the eye of the needle so he urged his Rhum Masters to be ready for a lot of physicality.
Behind ex-pros Mark Cruz and Jerwin Gaco, Tanduay dumped Cignal, 66-55, in Game One that snapped the Hawkeyes’ eight-game winning streak while dealing Coach Boyet Fernandez his loss in the Final Four.