'Ubuntu' mentality works wonders for Mahindra

MANILA, Philippines — As the PBA resumed, Mahindra’s playoff hopes continued to hang in a balance.

 

On Sunday night, Floodbuster’s fate in the Commissioner’s Cup stretched on, all thanks to every cager doing his share.

 

“We’ve kind of taken on this South African philosophy called ‘Ubuntu,’” coach Chris Gavina said. “That states that there is a bond in sharing. ‘I am because we are.’”

 

“Our guys were buying into it—especially Glenn and Eric. They’re energy guy in practice and it’s been contagious on everybody,” he furthered.

 

That positivism was very evident when the Floodbuster survived a pesky Fuelmasters side, 122-121, in overtime action at the MOA Arena. Five players tallied double-digit productions, four of them breached the 20-point mark. 

 

Gavina went on to laud these performers one by one—starting off with Reden Celda, who hit a floater to put secure the game and give the team its third win of the conference.

 

“Red has turned a corner. He's probably the most consistent guy right now. For a rookie to carry that much load on his shoulders is tremendous,” the mentor said of his ward.

 

“It goes to show how much he work he puts in on a day to day basis,” he added.

 

Celda—along with Revilla, both registered their career-highs in the win.  The former finished the game with 25 points while the latter topscored for Mahindra with 26.

 

Import Keith Wright added 18 markers while Eric Camson and Glen Khobuntin chimed in 18 and 17 more, respectively.

 

“I'm lost for words on how to describe LA right now. The performance he had tonight. His heart is just tremendous,” Gavina offered. “Keith brings a level of leadership in our team.”

 

“I think we’re going to need some help from other teams…but it’s a good situation to be statistically still in it someway, somehow considering the kind of up and down season we had,” Gavina closed.

 

The win nudges the now 3-7 Mahindra a win closer to the 4-6 Phoenix. The former will cap the elimination round with a match against Ginebra, while the latter versus NLEX.