Open the floodgates

No problem with floods. That’s what Mahindra likes to point out with its flood-proof variant of the durable Enforcer pick-up and it’s the reason why the team is called the Floodbuster in the PBA Philippine Cup this season.

Gov. Pepito Alvarez’ Columbian Autocar Corp. ventured into the PBA as an expansion franchise in 2014-15 known as Kia Sorrento. Then, it was renamed Kia Carnival. For the 2015-16 campaign, the team was redubbed the Mahindra Enforcers. Now, it’s the Floodbuster and with back-to-back wins, the team looks ready to weather any kind of storm.

De facto head coach Chito Gavina, subbing for Sen. Manny Pacquiao, took over the reins starting the Governors Cup last season. He succeeded Chito Victolero who resigned last April and is now with the Star Hotshots. Gavina, a chemical biology graduate who used to work with L’Oreal as a formulation chemist, piloted Mahindra to a stunning 4-0 start in his rookie conference and the Enforcers went on to qualify for their first-ever playoffs.

But the Governors Cup ended on a sour note for Gavina as Mahindra lost its last three games to Meralco, the eventual finalist. The skid started with the Bolts’ 86-83 win over Mahindra to close the eliminations. If Mahindra won, the Enforcers would’ve clinched the fourth seeding in the playoffs with a twice-to-beat edge. Since Meralco won, the Bolts tied Mahindra and Alaska for the fourth spot. Alaska was struck out of the tiebreaker with the lowest quotient, leaving Meralco and Mahindra to dispute the twice-to-beat advantage.

In the playoff, Meralco once again defeated Mahindra, 104-99. That set up a third showdown in the quarterfinal playoffs between the two teams, this time with Meralco enjoying a twice-to-beat advantage. Mahindra couldn’t break the spell of the (Norman) Black magic as the Enforcers lost their third straight game to Meralco, 105-82. The Bolts rode the momentum of those three wins to eliminate TNT in the semifinals but sputtered in the finals to bow to Ginebra in six games of the best-of-seven series.

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No doubt, Gavina had those three painful setbacks to Meralco in mind when the Floodbuster squared off with the Bolts last Wednesday. It was time for redemption and Mahindra wouldn’t be denied sweet revenge.  The Floodbuster came out with guns blazing and knocked down a phenomenal 21 triples to trounce Meralco, 105-92. It didn’t matter that the Bolts had 13 more free throw conversions, eight more fastbreak points, five more assists and 12 more turnover points. Mahindra got the job done by outshooting Meralco from the field, 51 percent to 43, outrebounding the Bolts, 47-40 and scoring 41 more bench points.

More importantly, the win re-established Mahindra as a playoff contender after a lowly 0-5 start. There are four games left in the Floodbuster calendar – TNT on Wednesday, Alaska on Jan. 22, NLEX on Jan. 27 and Star on Feb. 1. A sweep of those assignments will put Mahindra safely in the playoffs with a long-shot possibility of clinching second spot.

The race to the playoffs is tight and the competition is cut-throat. Of the 12 teams, four will drop out of the derby at the end of the single-round eliminations. The top two finishers will gain a twice-to-beat advantage in the first round of the playoffs with No. 1 taking on No. 8 and No. 2 facing No. 7. The other pairings will be No. 3 against No. 6 and No. 4 against No. 5 in best-of-three series. The winners of the four ties advance to the best-of-seven semifinals.

If Mahindra manages to enter the playoffs, it will be like Lazarus rising from the dead. And Gavina’s capable of working the miracle. Before the win over Meralco, the Floodbuster resurrected from 15 points down in the fourth period to close out regulation with a 19-4 blast in forcing overtime then beat Blackwater, 97-93, at the Philippine Arena last Christmas Day. That snapped Mahindra’s five-game losing string and restored the Floodbuster’s confidence. 

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It hasn’t been easy for Gavina to regroup his troops as before the Philippine Cup, Mahindra bid goodbye to six players who averaged a combined 48.4 points last season – Paolo Taha, Aldrech Ramos, Bradwyn Guinto, KG Canaleta, Raymond Aguilar and Keith Agovida. If you add John Pinto, traded to Blackwater during the Governors Cup, to the cast, that would increase the average scoring loss to 51.7.

In return, Mahindra brought in eight veterans but their combined scoring average last season was only 28.5 points.  The eight recruits were Josan Nimes, Alex Mallari, Ryan Arana, Nico Salva, Rey Guevarra, Gary David, Jeckster Apinan and Jeric Teng. If you include Jason Deutchman who sat out last season, the scoring sock would increase slightly to 31.6. Deutchman averaged 3.1 points in 10 games for Mahindra in 2014-15.  

Aside from the veteran adds, Mahindra signed up rookies Russel Escoto, Joseph Eriobu and Reden Celda. Escoto, 24, was on FEU’s UAAP champion squad in 2015 and on the Gilas squad that saw action at the recent FIBA Asia Challenge in Tehran. Eriobu, 24, was born in Hong Kong to a Filipina mother Marry Dequina and a Nigerian father. He played four years with Mapua in the NCAA. Celda, 24, was on NU’s UAAP champion team in 2014.

Three of Gavina’s players were undrafted – Mark Yee, Apinan and Philip Paniamogan. Apinan averaged 2.3 points in seven games with NLEX last season and was snubbed in the 2013 PBA draft where 44 players were chosen over six rounds. The only other undrafted player who made it to the PBA from that class was Jaymo Eguilos who had a brief stint with Blackwater in the last Governors Cup. Paniamogan wasn’t picked in the 2014 draft and played seven games with GlobalPort in the last Philippine Cup, sat out the Commissioner’s Cup then resurfaced with Mahindra in the Governors Cup. He averaged 1.9 points last season but against Meralco last Wednesday, erupted for a career-high 25 points, including 7-of-9 from beyond the arc, to fuel Mahindra’s win.