Mahindra needs Pacman back

Mahindra is the only winless team in the ongoing PBA Philippine Cup with four straight losses since the season opened a month ago. Dating back to the last Governors Cup, Mahindra hasn’t won in its last eight outings.

In six conferences since its PBA debut in 2014-15, Mahindra’s best finish was fifth in the Governors Cup last season. The franchise has wound up 11th in three conferences and ninth twice. In two seasons, Mahindra posted a combined 22-46 record or a winning rate of only 32.4 percent. Mahindra closed out last campaign with a 23-point loss to Meralco, 105-82, in the playoffs.

Mahindra rotated 28 local players last season and replaced acting head coach Chito Victolero with Chris Gavina at midstream. Before the Philippine Cup started last Nov. 20, the team underwent a major facelift, striking out Paolo Taha, Aldrech Ramos, Bradwyn Guinto, KG Canaleta, Raymond Aguilar and Keith Agovida, among others, from the roster. Ramos was Mahindra’s top local scorer with a 13.3 average and Canaleta was another major contributor in offense with an 11.6 clip. Brought into the cast were rookies Russel Escoto, Reden Celda and Joseph Eriobu, Josan Nimes, Alex Mallari, Ryan Arana, Nico Salva, Jeckster Apinan, Gary David, Rey Guevarra and Jeric Teng. Additionally, Jason Deutchman was reactivated from two years back.

As expected, the shuffle created chemistry issues. Mahindra lost its first two games by 22 points each, bowing to GlobalPort and Rain Or Shine. The Floodbusters trailed Phoenix by 30 points and wound up losing by 10 in their third outing. And last Sunday, Mahindra lost its fourth in a row to San Miguel Beer, 94-91.

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For Mahindra to make the playoffs, Gavina’s squad must finish the single-round eliminations in the top eight. The four bottom finishers won’t advance. With a 0-4 record, Mahindra has seven more games to play and if the Floodbusters intend to survive, they can’t wait longer for a win. Mahindra’s next game is against Barangay Ginebra at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Friday. Last season, Mahindra lost thrice in three meetings with Ginebra – 80-76 in the Philippine Cup, 104-86 in the Commissioner’s Cup and 93-86 in the Governors Cup. While the trend doesn’t seem encouraging, the team’s showing against the Beermen last Sunday was a ray of hope.

Mahindra led the entire first half and kept San Miguel at bay in the early going. The Floodbusters’ lead was biggest at 13 in the opening period. It went down to the wire and Mahindra had at least three chances to hit a triple for the win in the final minute. Mahindra just couldn’t execute as Mallari and Eriobu misfired from beyond the arc. Gavina had other shooters on the floor like Teng and L. A. Revilla but they never got the ball. There were no screens, no decoy play and no ball movement. Mahindra was too predictable to throw off San Miguel’s defense. When the smoke cleared, the stats revealed what led to the setback. San Miguel had more assists, 21-14, more converted free throws, 21-7 and more blocked shots, 10-1.

Mahindra did a solid job on defense at the onset, holding JuneMar Fajardo down to only four points and San Miguel to 15 in the first period. Eventually, Fajardo hit his stride and finished with 28 points and 15 rebounds. Another thorn on Mahindra’s side was Arwind Santos who compiled 18 points, nine rebounds, four assists and six blocked shots.

Mahindra’s lack of size was evident when 6-3 Mark Yee had the tough task of defending the 6-10 Fajardo. On the flip side, Fajardo defended the 6-5 Escoto who hit a string of mid-range jumpers to bring the Kraken away from under the basket. Escoto had early success, scoring eight points in the first period but added only one more field goal to his total until the end.

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Gavina badly needs one or two more bigs to shore up his frontline. Center Jason Ballesteros contributed five points and six rebounds in 13:43 quality minutes against San Miguel. He could use a reliever to play tag team with Escoto who’s basically a stretch four. So far, Gavina has deployed 19 players and 12 starters in four games. He’s looking for combinations that click. It was a positive sign that Revilla broke out of a slump to score 15 points in the San Miguel game. He has to be more consistent in leading Mahindra from the backcourt. Another positive sign was Eriobu’s progress. He had a double-double against Phoenix and fired 17 against San Miguel.

Mallari has emerged to be Mahindra’s top gunner. But he’s got to realize that as the team’s leading scorer, he’s not expected to take every shot with the game on the line. The Floodbusters must learn to trust each other and play as a team. Against Rain Or Shine, Mahindra collected only five assists to the Painters’ 27.

Despite Mahindra’s undersized cast, Gavina has the talent to be competitive if only the Floodbusters work together on both ends. Mahindra is a young team with an average age of 28.1 years and only five players 30 or more so lack of familiarity and maturity is a concern. One man can set things straight at Mahindra and get the players to fall in line. He’s nominal head coach and Sen. Manny Pacquiao. In the last two seasons, Pacquiao made cameo appearances on the floor and on the bench, bringing a high level of energy to the team’s play. If there’s anybody who can inspire and push Mahindra over the hump, it’s Pacquiao. The team could use his fighting spirit to break out of the doldrums.