The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
By Robert Andaya
Nueva Ecija Capitals continued to live up to their high billing in the Pilipinas Super League (PSL) President’s Cup basketball tournament.
The Capitals added the CV Siniloan Daruma Dragons to the list of victims, posting an impressive 100-85 win before another big crowd at the Paco Arena in Manila.
The win—the sixth in as many matches —enabled the Capitals of well-known sports – patron Bong Cuevas to remain on track for the championship in this fledgling basketball league managed by PBA legend Allan Caidic.
Nueva Ecija coach Jerson Cabiltes, however, admitted they still have a lot of work to do to achieve their ultimate goal.
“I’m trying to give everyone enough playing time to get themselves going. We want to keep everyone fresh for the daily grind. Yun second group namin, medyo kulang pa yun ball movement. tapos yung third group kulang sa transition defense. That’s what we are trying to improve,” said Cabiltes, who is best remembered for also leading Nueva Ecija to the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) championship last year.
“Yun naman ang goal natin . We want to have a cohesive unit going against tougher opponents in our next games. Ang sabi ko nga sa kanila, kahit walang mag-MVP or Mythical Five sa team, ayos lang as long as we win the championship.”
Actually, the Capitals started strong and scored the game’s first 15 points before holding the Dragons at bay the rest of the way.
Jay Collado, Michael Mabulac and Emman Calo joined hands to fuel the Capitals’ strong offensive game that saw them take as much as 22-point lead twice, 45-23, with 4:40 remaining in the second quarter and 90-68 midway in the payoff period.
Collado finished with 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting in 13 minutes of action for the Capitals, followed by Mabulac with 13 points, and five rebounds and Calo with12 points
Collado understands the message from the coach.
“Yun nga ang laging sinasabi sa akin ni coach. Isa ako sa mga beterano kaya kailangan i-lead ko yun team, lalo na maraming bata kami na kinuha. So kailangan maging example ako sa ensayo sa team.” said Collado.
“Yun mga bata namin, sobrang nakakatulong sa amin. Sa practice, takbuhan agad sila at hindi petiks kaya kailangan naming mga beterano na sabayan kaya pati kami yun kondisyon namin umaangat pa.”
Joining the scoring parade for Nueva Ecija are Ralph Robin and Robby Celiz, who added 10 points each; Chris Bitoon, who contributed eight points; Harvey Pagsanjan, who had seven points; Billy Ray Robles, who added five points and 11 rebounds; nd Jonathan Uyloan, who also had five points.
Francis Camacho and Justine Alano led CV Siniloan in their losing effort.
Camacho finished with 20 points, five rebounds, and three assists for CV Siniloan.
Alano had 19 points and nine rebounds, and Shawn Umali contributed 16 points and 13 rebounds.