Jarencio, GlobalPort satisfied with semis breakthrough despite exit
GlobalPort head coach Pido Jarencio. PBA IMAGES
Head coach Pido Jarencio believes that despite the semifinals exit, GlobalPort’s performance in the 2016 Smart Bro-PBA Philippine Cup is a glimpse of bigger things to come for the team.
The Batang Pier reached the semis for the first time in their young franchise history before bowing out to a more seasoned ALaska, 4-1.
“Baka ito na yung start. Start ng taon na nasa semis kami, siguro we can build on this, na baka mas maging maayos pa kaming team sa mga susunod na conference,” he said after the Batang Pier’s blowout 118-89 Game 5 defeat to Alaska on Tuesday.
And the charismatic coach has every reason to think such, with the way Terrence Romeo and Stanley Pringle took on the challenge to be the leaders of this cunning GlobalPort squad.
“Ang hirap umakyat ng semis at makapunta ng Final Four. Wala rin akong masabi sa mga players,” said Jarencio, noting that the semis defeat to Alaska is something the team can really build on towards the future. “Charge to experience na lang ito. Experienced yung nakalaban namin kaya deserving sila makapasok ng Finals. Kami naman, we tried pero talagang ganun, hindi pa para sa amin. Siguro mas marami kaming natutunan dito at marami kaming kailangan pa iimprove.”
Crashing the Final Four has also allowed GlobalPort to pocket lessons which, in the long term, would be beneficial if they make it this far again.
“Sa playoffs, di ka pwedeng maging mabagal. Di ka pwede mag-relax. Di ka pwede manunood-nood lang. Dapat all-out ka at yung energy dapat nandyan lagi,” said Jarencio.
Team manager Erick Arejola expressed his satisfaction with the feat GlobalPort has accomplished.
“Even with the loss sa semis, we’re happy rin because we reached the semis for the first time. Sabi nga nila baby steps. This is a learning experience for a young franchise like us, so hopefully, we learn something and make the right adjustments in the offseason,” he said.
Arejola also said that is is a huge stepping stone for GlobalPort for the remainder of the season, where the Batang Pier now looks to find an import suitable to the guard-centric system of Jarencio.
“We’re very happy with the core right now. We’re just looking for the right import that will compliment sila Stanley and Terrence,” he said. “We’ll see sa second conference.”
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