MPBL: Imus Bandera remains work in progress
The Imus Bandera-Khaleb Shawarma/GLC squad failed to lock their second consecutive win in the 2019-2020 Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) Lakan Cup after suffering a 57-79 defeat at the hands of neighbor Bacoor Strikers last Thursday at the Bulacan Capitol Gymnasium.
Combo guard Gerald Anderson led the Bandera as the only double-digit scorer of the group with 14 points (6/11 FGs), 4 rebounds, and 5 steals.
Imus was leading at one point, 33-19 after back to back triples by Jayjay Helterbrand, but the group failed to sustain their hot start and ended up yielding a big lead to their Cavite counterparts. The Bandera dropped to 1-1 in the South Division after the loss.
Citing lack of experience and chemistry together, Anderson said after the game:
“Tinalo namin sarili namin. Not to take anything from Bacoor na malakas na team, but I really felt na kinalaban namin ang sarili namin. We came out sa second half na medyo kampante. Wala yung intensity. It is a learning experience. Sana may matutunan kami sa game na ito. It is a good test to see kung ano pa ang mga kulang namin and ano pa ang mga dapat nagawa.”
Head coach Buds Reyes agreed to what Anderson said, adding that the Bandera may need more time together to turn themselves into a more cohesive unit moving forward.
“Parang na-mental block eh. They were following the game plan and then suddenly, hindi na nasundan. Gumulo yung offense, walang ball movement suddenly. Umabot nang hanggang third quarter bago umiskor. Di bale, it is a learning experience. Hopefully, we can learn from this. We need to sustain our play in the first two quarters,” said Reyes.
Helterbrand, the team’s veteran, also shared his thoughts and mentioned it is encouraging to have experienced such loss this early, for the team to be able to build from it in the succeeding games to come.
“I think our inexperience came in. We celebrated too early and then we went from moving the ball and playing together to going one-on-one. Doon nasira. Even our defense got affected. We got away from what got us a big lead. We have to remember what got us a win and not play selfish basketball. If we do that, we will be fine,” said Helterbrand.
“I am actually glad it happened so our heads don’t get big and we keep on getting better. We got exposed. I hope the guys remember that going into practice and we go out there and show a different Imus basketball.”
Anderson concluded on the team’s behalf that Imus Bandera-Khaleb Shawarma/GLC will come out better in their next assignment.
“Mas masakit yung talo kasi alam namin sa sarili namin na hindi kami nagtrabaho. But I assure fans we will do our best in our next game,” he said.
Imus will make their much-awaited 2019-2020 home debut at the Imus City Sports Complex on Thursday, June 27 against Batangas City-Tanduay Athletics.
