Out-of-the-box tricks

Phoenix coach Topex Robinson called it “out-of-the-box” thinking and credited assistant Jamike Jarin for coming up with wild ideas to unsettle opponents. So when Robinson t o l d M a tthew Wright he wouldn’t start for the first time this PBA Philippine Cup against Magnolia in the quarterfinals last Saturday, it was par for the course.

Wright said he recalled a ploy where 5-10 teammate Brian Heruela was designated to defend 6-6 Kelly Nabong when the Super LPG Fuel Masters beat NorthPort, 110-105, early in the Clark bubble. The i d e a w a s t o influence NorthPort to make Nabong a priority option on offense because of the mismatch, inviting him to the low block instead of trying to stretch the floor with his outside shooting. It also took away opportunities from Christian Standhardinger.

“We wanted them to post up Nabong to get them out of their sets,” said Jarin. “We introduced some match-up zones and some freak defenses like box-and-1 and diamond-and-2.” Jarin noted that in the semifinals against TNT, Phoenix has to be creative “because we’re playing a juggernaut.”

Wright admitted it was “a little bit of a shock” when he was told he wouldn’t start. He started every game in the elims and was the league’s No. 2 scorer. But when the tactic was explained to him, he was all for it. Magnolia must’ve prepared a gameplan to focus on defending Wright at the onset so the switch was a surprise. Additionally, R. J. Jazul made his first start in the conference and R. R. Garcia and Calvin Abueva their second so Robinson pitched more than a few curveballs. The element of surprise is about being unpredictable and in sports, predictability is often a recipe for failure.

W h e n J a r i n w a s t h e Philippines head coach at the FIBA Asia U16 Cup in Tehran in 2013, he used unorthodox tricks to throw off opponents. Against Japan, he tapped 5-10 Jolo Mendoza to jump the opening tip with 6-6 Rui Hachimura. The Philippines won, 94-76. “First time ko ginawa yun,” said Jarin. “Alam namin lahat na si Hachimura will be an NBA player kasi papunta na siya sa Gonzaga University.” In the final against China, Jarin did the same thing as Mendoza jumped with 7-foot Hu Jinqiu on the first tip. China’s average height was 6-6 and the Philippines’ was 6-0 but Jarin’s scrappy crew pushed the powerhouse to the limit before settling for the silver in an 85- 78 loss.

In Game 1 of the semis last Wednesday, Jarin was up to his old tricks. In the opening tip, Heruela jumped with 6-9 Poy Erram who’s almost a foot taller. Then, more tricks came out of Phoenix’ bag as Robinson employed a dizzying variation of defenses to keep TNT off balance. Phoenix nearly pulled off an upset and lost a 95-92 decision. The outcome could’ve been different if Wright hadn’t sprained his ankle in the first quarter, playing only 6:42 minutes and Abueva hadn’t gotten into early foul trouble. TNT made critical matchup adjustments, like Harvey Carey on Wright, RayRay Parks on Heruela and Erram repeatedly exploiting Phoenix’ lack of a post defender. When it came to winning time, Jayson Castro delivered and that’s all TNT needed to draw first blood