NOTHING CAN STOP TY
You never want to see someone fall haplessly from mid-air and crash to the ground.
That was exactly what Rain or Shine guard TY Tang experienced early in the payoff period in their crucial tiff against Purefoods on Sunday.
With about nine minutes left in the game, the 30-year-old playmaker got inadvertently undercut by a backpedalling Peter June Simon as he was in mid-air for a putback. The next thing you know, he fell headfirst on the hardwood.
“Feeling ko, one month ako nasa taas. Ang tagal, hindi ko alam yung gagawin ko. Wala akong control. Di ko rin nakita,” Tang recounted. “Ang first na pumasok sa isip ko is kung paano ako babagsak, pero wala talaga akong control eh. Awa ng Diyos, kahit paano andun sya.”
With no feet to absorb his landing, Tang fell face-first, which halted the action for a couple of minutes. But fortunately, he escaped serious injury.
“Ang sama ng landing ko. Nauna yung ulo ko yata,” he said, as he pointed to a small gash near his right eye. “Buti bukol lang.”
Despite the incident, Tang still went back late in the game, grabbed an offensive board and scored on a crucial basket to put Rain or Shine up, 77-72, with 2:45 remaining, as the E-Painters went on to win, 83-74.
These feats of toughness has been one of the reasons why Tang has found a home with coach Yeng Guiao in Rain or Shine, which played with an injury-depleted lineup in the game against the Hotshots.
“Ang sabi ni coach, sampu lang kami. So whoever goes in, dapat aggressive. Di kami mag-give up ng 48 minutes,” Tang said. “We know what’s at stake here. We have a chance to be in the top two, so sayang yung pagkakataon na yun.”
For Tang, it’s also his way of showing gratitude to the confidence given by their fiery coach, saying, “Given this opportunity dahil sa continuous na binibigay na tiwala ni coach sa amin, lahat ng pwede naming gawin, gagawin namin para manalo.” (RL)
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