The truth about Lamont - SPORTING CHANCE by Joaquin M. Henson

For a while, there were hot rumors that San Miguel Beer import Lamont Strothers was on the way out of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Someone whispered that he wasn’t getting along with Danny Ildefonso and Danny Seigle. Another said he was being blamed for San Miguel’s poor start – the Beermen barely made it to the quarters and defied awesome odds in beating Tanduay, enjoying a twice-to-beat advantage, to advance to the Governors Cup semis.

Now that San Miguel is on a four-game winning streak, coach Joseph Uichico said the rumors are finally dead. None of the rumors, he added, was true in the first place.

"When we were struggling at the start, Lamont himself offered to be replaced," confided Uichico. "That’s the kind of guy he is. But we never considered it. We never got to a point where we thought of changing him. We have trust and confidence in Lamont. He gives us intensity. We know he does the best he can. He plays hard, he practices hard, he plays ‘til the end."

Uichico said even if Strothers isn’t lighting up the boards like he used to, the former National Basketball Association (NBA) guard contributes in many other ways. In San Miguel’s 100-97 win over Red Bull in Game 1 of their best-of-5 semis series last Friday, for instance, Strothers pulled down 10 rebounds aside from scoring 22 points. Being more aggressive off the boards, continued Uichico, is a new dimension in Strothers’ game.

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Consultant Ron Jacobs said it’s not common knowledge that Strothers is coming off a long rest because of a knee operation last spring.

"Lamont usually plays all year round but since playing in the Governors Cup last year, he didn’t play at all until now," said Jacobs. "Not too many people know that Lamont played hurt last season – still, he led us to the championship. He hurt his knee in a collision with Jason (Webb) in the Tanduay semifinals. He delayed getting an MRI to determine the extent of his injury until after the season was over. He found out later he had a cracked kneecap. It’s just about healed."

Jacobs laughed off loose talk that Strothers was being blamed for San Miguel’s early woes. "When the rumor broke out that he wasn’t getting along with the locals, he called to ask what it was all about," said Jacobs. "The funny thing was he called from where he was playing pool and hanging out with the guys whom he’s not supposed to be getting along."

Jacobs described Strothers as "a class guy." He said Strothers is the kind of player a coach would love to go to war with. "Put it another way," he went on, "I don’t think anyone would want to coach against a team with Lamont – he does everything you need to win."

Jacobs admitted there’s pressure on San Miguel to prove itself again. "If you check the records, you’ll see that we’ve gone to the Finals in five of the last seven conferences – that’s an Alaska type of achievement," he said. "And we’ve won three of the last five titles. Fans tend to forget that we won the Commissioner’s Cup – it’s like we’ve got to win the Third Conference to say we had a good season."

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Uichico said coming from behind is always sweeter than taking the crown on a silver platter but insisted the championship is still far from his mind.

"In the Tanduay series, we never thought of the semis," he said. "Just like now that we’re in the semis, we’re not thinking of the Finals. We’re looking at things one game at a time. Are we peaking at the right time? I don’t know. All I know is we’re playing much better as a team. The guys know what to do to win – they never panic. Even if we’re down by 10 in the fourth period, we don’t panic – we look for one defensive stop, then another, until we get the lead."

Uichico said beating Red Bull in their series opener was huge. "In a best-of-5 series, winning Game 1 is a big advantage," he explained. "It puts pressure on the other team because if we go up 2-0, it’ll be do-or-die the rest of the way. In Game 1, Red Bull was well-rested and we weren’t. So when we won, it was a big thing."

But Uichico said the series is far from over. "All the games will be close, like in Game 1," he continued. "It’s possible it can go five games. Red Bull’s tough – it has good size. In Game 1, they outrebounded us, 41-36, but we outshot them, 51 percent to 49. We had less turnovers, 18 to 22, but they scored a lot off our turnovers. We’ve got to do a better job taking care of the ball and playing defense on (Ray) Tutt who’s a great import. Tutt doesn’t need the ball to score – his off-the-ball movement is great. He hit six triples and shot 41 points. We had Freddie (Abuda) on him until he got into foul trouble then Lamont took over but it took a lot out of his offense."

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Uichico said it was a total team effort that clinched Game 1. "Danny I (Ildefonso) is our first option – if he’s doubled, we rotate the ball, if he’s not, he will look to score," he said. "The result? Danny I hit 26 points. Danny S (Seigle) is our second option. He got off some tough shots in Game 1 and scored 20 points. Our guards – Olsen (Racela) and Boybits (Victoria) – are playing well, too. Boybits bailed us out against Tanduay. Everyone’s contributing."

Jacobs said he realizes the expectations are high on San Miguel. "We’re a young team," he noted. "We didn’t improve our team this year unlike the others. We wanted to bring in someone like Dondon (Hontiveros) but things didn’t work out."

Still, Uichico and Jacobs can’t complain. San Miguel leads the league in total wins, 34, and winning clip, 68 percent (its second highest in 26 years). Alaska wound up with 30 wins and 62.5 percent. Tanduay posted 28 wins and 63.6 percent. Purefoods is the only other team above the .500 mark, registering 51.1 percent on 24 wins so far.

If San Miguel goes all the way to the Finals and bags the title, the Beermen will finish the year with 40 wins – their second highest total in seven years. Maybe, then, Uichico and Jacobs can start smiling.