Tanquingcen apologizes to Kings fans
By Joaquin Henson
The Philippine Star 02/07/2006
Barangay Ginebra coach Siot
Tanquingcen yesterday apologized
to the Kings' legion of fans
for the team's failure to advance
to the Philippine Basketball
Association (PBA) San Mig
Fiesta Conference finals.
Ginebra came back from a 1-3
series deficit to force a Game
7 against Red Bull in the
semifinals but lost an 83-79
decision to the Barakos in the
clincher at the Araneta
Coliseum last Sunday.
"I apologize to the fans,"
said Tanquingcen. "I know
their expectations were high.
I was not able to deliver to
the fans and our team management.
I'm just hoping that in time,
masusuklian namin sila for
their support, patience and
confidence."
Tanquingcen, 33, had no
excuses for the loss and
said a limited rotation was
not a factor in the Red Bull
series. The Kings lost center
Andy Seigle four days before
Game 1 when he suffered an
anterior cruciate ligament
tear in his left knee at
practice. Seigle will be out
for at least six months and
will sit out the next conference.
"To be honest, there's a lot
to improve on," said Tanquingcen.
"This was a learning experience
for us, particularly the coaches.
This will make us together next
time. There were poor decisions
made, like in Game 4 which we
lost by three. I felt I should've
called a timeout late in the
game to map out a play. If we
won, the series would've been
tied and we wouldn’t have
gone down 1-3."
Execution is what Tanquingcen
said the Kings will work on.
"We tend to rely heavily on
our individual talent," said
Tanquingcen. "We’ve got to
learn how to use our talent
to execute our plays with
teamwork. As the Red Bull
series went on, I tightened
our rotation and began to
play most of the guys in our
two championship teams,
except for Mac (Mark Macapagal)
who’s a good defender and scorer.
I like Mac because he competes
and gives us diversity. Not
that the other guys don't
compete because they all do.
It's just that in the Red
Bull series, it wasn't so
much about mismatches and
Mac was a better fit in
our system."
Tanquingcen admitted that
Mark Caguioa was far from
healthy in the series.
"We kept it a secret but
Mark was hampered by a
hamstring injury," he continued.
"He was playing 60 percent.
But he’s a true warrior. He
never complained of the pain.
He would even ask me to put
him on the other team's
best offensive player.
Because of the pain, he
wasn't as explosive and
quick. And it showed in
his stats."
Caguioa averaged only 9.8
points in the last six games
of the Red Bull series. He
hit at an 18.3 clip in the
double-round classifications.
As for Jay-Jay Helterbrand,
Tanquingcen said the long
grind finally took its toll
on the Kings' floor leader.
"He hasn't had any time
off since recovering from
his shin injury," said
Tanquingcen. "From the
Philippine Cup, he went
straight to the national
team then we started playing
this conference. It had to
be the wear and tear, more
the mental fatigue.
Sometimes, he practiced
twice a day. The body can
only take so much. He
struggled against Red Bull
(he didn’t score in double
figures the last three games).
His mother surprised him
when she arrived from the
US for Game 6 and that was
a big boost for him."
coach,you're making me cry.
there's no nid for ur apology.
there's nothing to be ashamed
of.i love you!! ;)
i knew it.mark was hurt.. :(
..||cHa||.. Shot, cha +
Comments:
Post a Comment