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By Nelson Beltran Phil star May 1993
Forget that overly abused line. Perish the thought, even for some fleeting moments and give credit where it’s due because for the first time everybody does agree that coaches sometimes do win games.
One has only to look back at those nail-biting six games of the PBA All-Filipino title playoff between Coney Island and San Miguel Beer to find some well orchestrated, deftly crafted games that led to the Ice Cream Stars’ startling victory over the Beermen by four games to two.
That was no victory. That was a masterpiece for in the end the Stars, long deposed king of the All-filipino, found themselves responding with the old zest and enthusiasm, playing like a bunch of rookies instead of well-fed veterans and soaking it all, the pains and the aches, to claim one of the most stirring reversals in the pro league.
Following their title-clinching 99-96 overtime triumph after coming back from 18 points down and as everybody had hied away to a plush Makati five-star hotel to celebrate, one name has consistently popped out in the din and noise of the joyous throng.
Chot Reyes.
It wasn’t being dropped as if he were a revered legend of many a title battle in the PBA or like some foreign bred wizard of the bench with a magic wand but Chot Reyes name was being tossed around as if, as one of his charges would describe the man, “he’s one of the boys.”
Probably that was the kind of chemistry that champions are made of.
Being one of the boys, being able to relate and gain the players’ confidence and trust and respect and showing to one and all that, heck, he will stand by them come hell or high water.
It is well known in the league that the top honchos and players at the Purefoods Corp. franchise rarely agree on anything as far as the team is concerned.
But in the wee hours of Tuesday evening at the Hotel Nikko Manila Garden, from the top officials down to the support crew of the six-year old pro ballclub, they gave much of the credit for their second All-Filipino title to their mentor.
Coney Island bucked odds and tremendous pressures in reclaiming the coveted crown in the tournament from the highly fancied Beermen.
But the Ice Cream stars wouldn’t take and corner much of the credit, simply saying that they couldn’t have upended the Beermen without the efficient coaching of Reyes.
He gambled and won, tried untested combinations and came
back to put sanity in the team once the gambit misfired. Later everybody would agree that the man has some kind of Midas touch.
Purefoods Corp. president Rene Buhain, before saying anything else in his speech at the victory party, first offered his gratitude to the Uytengsus of Alaska Milk “for giving Chot to us.”
“For the first time, I’m satisfied with the team I’ve got, and for the first time, I think my team is underpaid. They gave me a Christmas in May,” said Buhain.
Purefoods Executive Vice President Rene Montemayor was out of the country when the Ice Cream Stars figured in the epic series from the elimnation round to the pre-final playoff against Swift Mighty Meaty.
But he said “one man stood out in the team and this is coach Chot Reyes.”
Alvin Patrimonio, Jerry Codinera and Boy Cabahug, the three top pointmakers of the team agreed that championship was fashioned out through team effort, and echoed the sentiments of their bosses that their mentor deserved the biggest piece of the championship credit.
“Malaki talaga ang tulong ni Chot, lalo nang San Miguel ang nakalaban namin sa finals. Puro superstars iyon. Pero iyung never-say die spirit ni coach, parang nadala kami. Sa akin lang, malaki ang naitulong niya. Na-polished niya yung depensa ko although there are still flaws in it,” Patrimonio said.
Cabahug likened Reyes’ coaching style “to a scientist undertaking lots of experiments,” while Codinera described their relationship with their coach more like gangmates or “barakadas” giving respect to one another.
Reyes added: “Abe King and Frankie Lim had big contribution to the team. Basta nakita nilang pumupukpok iyong dalawa, fight na rin yung iba. At basta nakita naman ni Abe at Frankie na binubugbog iyung teammates nila, silang dalawa iyung bumabalik sa kalaban.”
The Ice Cream stars, rated lowly by the pundits at the off-season, posted a 6-4 win-loss record in the elimination round and and made it to the four team playoffs as the No.3 team by winding up with a 9-5 mark in the semifinals.
Coney Island, losing finalist in the tournament last year, proved at once they would stop at anything to get into the finals. They swept the favored Swift Mighty Meaty in their best-of-five playoff for one of the finals berths.
The team ran away with three remarkable triumphs over the Meaties, but still sets out the underdog against the powerhouse linup of Coach Norman Black in the series.
But the Coney Island Stars showed they were not fallen ones of the precious year. They showed they were literally reborn under Reyes. They defied the odds and completed the quest by stopping the Beermen in six games.
Maraming nagsacrifice dito. Si Glenn nga personally sinabi niya sa akin huwag akong mag-iintindi sa playing time nila. Siya raw kung hindi ko kailangan gamitin, huwag ko raw siyang gamitin at okay lang. Parang magkaibigan lang ang samahan namin. At medyo huli ko naman ang ugali nila dahil halos lahat iyan nakasabay kong maglaro noong college,” said Reyes, a former Ateneo Blue eagle star in the UAAP.
“What I did mostly really was just to put the team into position to have a good chance in the last two minutes. The players then take over. Players na ang magpapanalo, he said.
The championship was a dream come true for Reyes who gave up a good post in Purefoods Corp. in the late 80s to pursue a coaching career.
He held a sensitive position in the food conglomerate before making what he termed as the “hardest decision in my life” by relinquishing his job to sit down as assistant to coach tim Cone with the Alaska team.
“Talagang love for basketball. Minimal ang money consideration, I just wanted the job,” he recalled.
Reyes never regretted the decision for he finally realized “a long cherished dream of coaching in the PBA.”
“I had this feeling na babalik ako sa Purefoods. But when the offer came, I asked one condition first – free hand in the team. Akin lahat ng decision. I knew Purefoods is a different jungle. I knew the pressure having worked with it before. I know the other coaches struggled with the management,” he said.
Reyes came away with a Cinderella coaching debut. His was an impressive performance. But he sddi he will take a short rest and return to the drawing board to go for two more championships.
“Nandyan na iyan. Kami na lang ang may chance for a grandslam. We always play to win. We will go for it,” he said.
article posted From: idolkosicap of mypba.com
Forget that overly abused line. Perish the thought, even for some fleeting moments and give credit where it’s due because for the first time everybody does agree that coaches sometimes do win games.
One has only to look back at those nail-biting six games of the PBA All-Filipino title playoff between Coney Island and San Miguel Beer to find some well orchestrated, deftly crafted games that led to the Ice Cream Stars’ startling victory over the Beermen by four games to two.
That was no victory. That was a masterpiece for in the end the Stars, long deposed king of the All-filipino, found themselves responding with the old zest and enthusiasm, playing like a bunch of rookies instead of well-fed veterans and soaking it all, the pains and the aches, to claim one of the most stirring reversals in the pro league.
Following their title-clinching 99-96 overtime triumph after coming back from 18 points down and as everybody had hied away to a plush Makati five-star hotel to celebrate, one name has consistently popped out in the din and noise of the joyous throng.
Chot Reyes.
It wasn’t being dropped as if he were a revered legend of many a title battle in the PBA or like some foreign bred wizard of the bench with a magic wand but Chot Reyes name was being tossed around as if, as one of his charges would describe the man, “he’s one of the boys.”
Probably that was the kind of chemistry that champions are made of.
Being one of the boys, being able to relate and gain the players’ confidence and trust and respect and showing to one and all that, heck, he will stand by them come hell or high water.
It is well known in the league that the top honchos and players at the Purefoods Corp. franchise rarely agree on anything as far as the team is concerned.
But in the wee hours of Tuesday evening at the Hotel Nikko Manila Garden, from the top officials down to the support crew of the six-year old pro ballclub, they gave much of the credit for their second All-Filipino title to their mentor.
Coney Island bucked odds and tremendous pressures in reclaiming the coveted crown in the tournament from the highly fancied Beermen.
But the Ice Cream stars wouldn’t take and corner much of the credit, simply saying that they couldn’t have upended the Beermen without the efficient coaching of Reyes.
He gambled and won, tried untested combinations and came
back to put sanity in the team once the gambit misfired. Later everybody would agree that the man has some kind of Midas touch.
Purefoods Corp. president Rene Buhain, before saying anything else in his speech at the victory party, first offered his gratitude to the Uytengsus of Alaska Milk “for giving Chot to us.”
“For the first time, I’m satisfied with the team I’ve got, and for the first time, I think my team is underpaid. They gave me a Christmas in May,” said Buhain.
Purefoods Executive Vice President Rene Montemayor was out of the country when the Ice Cream Stars figured in the epic series from the elimnation round to the pre-final playoff against Swift Mighty Meaty.
But he said “one man stood out in the team and this is coach Chot Reyes.”
Alvin Patrimonio, Jerry Codinera and Boy Cabahug, the three top pointmakers of the team agreed that championship was fashioned out through team effort, and echoed the sentiments of their bosses that their mentor deserved the biggest piece of the championship credit.
“Malaki talaga ang tulong ni Chot, lalo nang San Miguel ang nakalaban namin sa finals. Puro superstars iyon. Pero iyung never-say die spirit ni coach, parang nadala kami. Sa akin lang, malaki ang naitulong niya. Na-polished niya yung depensa ko although there are still flaws in it,” Patrimonio said.
Cabahug likened Reyes’ coaching style “to a scientist undertaking lots of experiments,” while Codinera described their relationship with their coach more like gangmates or “barakadas” giving respect to one another.
Reyes added: “Abe King and Frankie Lim had big contribution to the team. Basta nakita nilang pumupukpok iyong dalawa, fight na rin yung iba. At basta nakita naman ni Abe at Frankie na binubugbog iyung teammates nila, silang dalawa iyung bumabalik sa kalaban.”
The Ice Cream stars, rated lowly by the pundits at the off-season, posted a 6-4 win-loss record in the elimination round and and made it to the four team playoffs as the No.3 team by winding up with a 9-5 mark in the semifinals.
Coney Island, losing finalist in the tournament last year, proved at once they would stop at anything to get into the finals. They swept the favored Swift Mighty Meaty in their best-of-five playoff for one of the finals berths.
The team ran away with three remarkable triumphs over the Meaties, but still sets out the underdog against the powerhouse linup of Coach Norman Black in the series.
But the Coney Island Stars showed they were not fallen ones of the precious year. They showed they were literally reborn under Reyes. They defied the odds and completed the quest by stopping the Beermen in six games.
Maraming nagsacrifice dito. Si Glenn nga personally sinabi niya sa akin huwag akong mag-iintindi sa playing time nila. Siya raw kung hindi ko kailangan gamitin, huwag ko raw siyang gamitin at okay lang. Parang magkaibigan lang ang samahan namin. At medyo huli ko naman ang ugali nila dahil halos lahat iyan nakasabay kong maglaro noong college,” said Reyes, a former Ateneo Blue eagle star in the UAAP.
“What I did mostly really was just to put the team into position to have a good chance in the last two minutes. The players then take over. Players na ang magpapanalo, he said.
The championship was a dream come true for Reyes who gave up a good post in Purefoods Corp. in the late 80s to pursue a coaching career.
He held a sensitive position in the food conglomerate before making what he termed as the “hardest decision in my life” by relinquishing his job to sit down as assistant to coach tim Cone with the Alaska team.
“Talagang love for basketball. Minimal ang money consideration, I just wanted the job,” he recalled.
Reyes never regretted the decision for he finally realized “a long cherished dream of coaching in the PBA.”
“I had this feeling na babalik ako sa Purefoods. But when the offer came, I asked one condition first – free hand in the team. Akin lahat ng decision. I knew Purefoods is a different jungle. I knew the pressure having worked with it before. I know the other coaches struggled with the management,” he said.
Reyes came away with a Cinderella coaching debut. His was an impressive performance. But he sddi he will take a short rest and return to the drawing board to go for two more championships.
“Nandyan na iyan. Kami na lang ang may chance for a grandslam. We always play to win. We will go for it,” he said.
article posted From: idolkosicap of mypba.com
