After almost three weeks, “Captain Hook” Mac Cardona finally made his return to the PBA. But it was a heartbreaking comeback as Air21 fell to San Mig Coffee, 83-92, in double overtime.
Despite the setback that hurled the Express to a 0-4 start, coach Franz Pumaren still looked at the positives for his team.
“I think in today’s game, we were able to show what was lacking in our team, which is being aggressive on defense, and trying to hold our opponent. The result was within our goal, and we showed it today, but it’s too bad that we lost,” he said. “I’ve been preaching to them that we cannot outshoot our opponents. What’s important is that we play our gameplan.”
Pumaren added, “In spite of us just taking eight free throws, we were there in the game.”
And playing a big part in keeping the Express within striking distance was Cardona, who scored nine of his 13 points in the fourth quarter, to go along with six rebounds.
Back from a grade two left MCL sprain, the ex-La Salle Green Archer seemed like he was still in peak form despite his three-week break.
“Medyo kinakapa ko pa,” Cardona said. “Medyo conscious pa ako sa tuhod ko. May konti pa akong nararamdaman pero tolerable naman. Pero at times, pag tumatakbo ako, parang may kumikiskis pa eh, medyo nakakairita.”
Though feeling the pain, Cardona reiterated that he will still be playing in their next game.
“Kaya pang maglaro. Nakapaglaro na ako. Kailangan ko na lang makuha yung timing ko. Two days pa lang ako nakakapagpractice kasi may game ngayon,” he said.
When pressed for comment in his reunion of sorts with his college coach Pumaren, Cardona noted the differences of the two worlds.
“PBA na to eh, so syempre iba na. Medyo malakas yung team namin noon, pero ngayon baliktad. Kami yung nasa baba ngayon, so iba talaga,” he said.
Known before as a designated scorer, Cardona said that he wasn’t given the same role by his coach this time, saying, “Di ko kailangang magpipilit. Hayaan ko lang daw dumating yung game sa akin. Di naman kailangang umiskor ako ng marami para kami manalo.”
And with Cardona’s acceptance of his role in his new team, Pumaren still believes that there will be a lot of upsides once his star forward blends well with the squad.
“It was a decent first game for him,” Pumaren said. “Despite his limited time, he was able to help us, so were hoping that he will adjust better with the team.” (RLeongson)
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