Phoenix out to arrest skid

MANILA, Philippines – Phoenix coach Ariel Vanguardia challenged the Fuel Masters to play with pride as the team, coming off back-to-back losses by an average margin of 31.5 points, battles to arrest the skid against Meralco in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan today.

“It’s time to show character,” said Vanguardia. “Before the season started, (team owner) Boss Dennis (Uy) spoke to the guys and told them to play tough. That’s our battlecry – tigas and it’s what’s written on our shooting shirts. Now more than ever, we’ve got to be strong. After we beat San Miguel Beer and Mahindra, everyone thought we were on the rise. Our next game was against Star and if we won, we’d be on top of the standings. But it didn’t happen. The way we played defense against San Miguel, we couldn’t do the same against Star. We became too concerned not to be called for fouls. We couldn’t get going. Cyrus (Baguio) was limited to one attempt.”

Phoenix lost to Star by a whopping 44 points, 123-79, then fell to TNT KaTropa, 117-98. The Fuel Masters are now the league’s worst defensive team, surrendering 104.6 points a game. “As a team, we can’t abandon the way we play defense just because we’re getting called for fouls,” he said. “We’ve got to adjust. Take Matt (Wright). When we worked together in the ABL, he could defend imports and was a lot stronger physically. I told Matt to adjust with the touch fouls, to play honest defense and things will work out. In the ABL, we used to play a game a week now in the PBA, we play a lot more so it’s taking a toll. I know Matt’s game, he’s capable of playing tougher, he hasn’t reached his full potential. He’s scoring in double figures every game so his offense is no problem but we’re asking him to play tougher defense.”

Vanguardia said the other day, the players met on their own to talk about reversing the tide. “They talked it over as a group with J. C. (Intal), Willie (Wilson), Chico (Lanete) and Cyrus expressing their sentiments as the senior leaders,” he said. “Aside from the four, we’ve got a very young lineup. The losses to Star and TNT brought us back to earth. We know the only way for us to win is to outwork our opponents. We’ve got to do a better job of rebounding the ball and going back on defense in transition. I notice that when we’re down by a big margin, we lose spirit. That’s where our veterans need to step up and inspire the young guys not to give up.”

Vanguardia’s problem in today’s game is Wilson’s absence. “Willie will sit out,” he said. “He’s not 100 percent. First, he went down with food poisoning. Now, he’s got electrolyte imbalance. He’s taking medication for amoebiasis and the side effect is causing numbness in his muscles, including the back. His stamina is low and can’t last even at practice. It’s been two weeks that he hasn’t been at full strength. He’s gone to three specialists but nothing conclusive on when he can come back. We hope one week’s rest will be enough.”

Another problem is Intal’s left rib which was bruised at practice. Intal skipped workouts the other day to get ready for Meralco. “Even if he’s not 100 percent, J. C. is still productive,” said Vanguardia. “He’s leading by example. That’s what you like about J. C., the way he encourages his teammates to play with heart.”

Vanguardia said beating Meralco is a must to stay in the hunt. “In the games we’ve won, Prince (Caperal) played well,” he said. “But we need quality minutes from Mike (Miranda) and Norbert (Torres), our other bigs. We can’t afford our bigs to get into early foul trouble. They’ve got to show up. Mark (Borboran) shot 18 points against TNT so I hope he sustains his offense. We need more consistency from our backcourt. Gelo (Alolino) will start for the first time against Meralco. We’re expecting a lot from him.”

Intal and Wright are the only Fuel Masters scoring in twin digits in every game. Intal is averaging 16.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 27 minutes while Wright is norming 16 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 31.5 minutes. The only other Phoenix player averaging in double figure points is Simon Enciso with 14.8, shooting .412 from beyond the arc and .278 from two-point distance.

Rookies Wright, 25, and Alolino, 22, are the cornerstones of Phoenix’ future.  Wright was included in this year’s special draft for Gilas although he never played for the senior national squad. The Fil-Canadian, whose mother Ofelia is from Ramos, Tarlac, saw action for the youth team at the 2008 FIBA Asia U18 Championships. He earned his spurs at St. Bonaventure University, a New York private Catholic school where NBA legend Bob Lanier played. Wright played a year in France before hooking up with the Malaysia Dragons under Vanguardia in the ABL.