Back to Baclaran for Baylon

MANILA, Philippines - PBA vice-chairman and `wore a blue shirt with the words “We Believe” emblazoned in front during Game 7 of the Tigers’ semifinal series against Rain Or Shine at the Cuneta Astrodome last Wednesday. It was Baylon’s show of faith for the team he has painstakingly backed since Coca-Cola took out a PBA franchise in 2002.

After No. 8 Powerade eliminated No. 1 B-Meg in the quarterfinals, Baylon fulfilled a promise to walk on his knees from the back pew to the front of the Redemptorist Church altar in Baclaran.

A few hours after Powerade sealed its advance to the Philippine Cup finals with an emphatic 107-98 decision over the Painters, Baylon was back in Baclaran. He walked on his knees not once but twice to thank the Lord for blessing the Tigers.

“On my first walk, (team manager) Gerard (Francisco) and my friend Jon (Sacro) were my witnesses and I did it without knee pads,” related Baylon. “As we were leaving the church, lo and behold, Sean (Anthony) arrived with his girlfriend. He, too, wanted to fulfil a promise. He got hurt in Game 6 last Sunday and promised to walk on his knees if he could play in Game 7 which he did. So I did a second walk to accompany Sean who did it for the first time ever. This was about 10:30 p.m. after our team victory dinner at the Mall of Asia.”

Baylon said on a recent trip to Bangkok, he bought a black shirt with the face of a growling Tiger in the front. Last Wednesday, he wore the Tiger shirt underneath the “We Believe” shirt. At the final buzzer, Baylon stripped off the “We Believe” shirt and whooped it up in the Tiger shirt.

“I don’t usually watch games live because there’s just too much tension and like Brad Pitt in the movie ‘Moneyball,’ I get too nervous and I might be bad luck for the team,” said Baylon. “The only other semifinal game I watched live was the opener which we lost at Cuneta. But I had a good feeling about Game 7. I wanted to watch it live from the start. Before the game, I shook hands with Ronjay (Buenafe) who used to be our player. I felt his hand was cold. I told Gerard it could be that Rain Or Shine was tense.”

Baylon admitted that before the season, there were grumblings within the Coca-Cola organization that the investment in a PBA franchise could be more effectively spent sponsoring a league or some other activity. “It’s not the first time I’ve had to fight for our franchise but you can’t blame those who think you can’t get too much positive mileage from a losing team,” he said. “So, we were determined to make a better showing this season.”

Baylon said before Game 1 of the semifinals, he scribbled the numbers 8-4-2-1 on the whiteboard in the Tigers’ dressing room. “I told the guys the numbers mean something,” he said. “We were the eighth seed, made it to the top four and we’ll make it to the top two and we’ll end up first with all the numbers divided by two in progression. Before Game 7, I pointed to the words ‘We Believe’ on my shirt. I told the guys they’ve got to believe in themselves, to go out there and prove themselves. This is war. In wartime, it’s natural to feel fear. But we’ve got to fight through fear. If you think a teammate needs to be reassured, don’t hesitate to do it. Remember, Simon picked up the cross for Jesus. We can’t allow ourselves to get hurt without giving back or feel fear without fighting back.”

Baylon said it was a total team effort that brought Powerade to the finals. “Wil Antonio’s defense was outstanding in Game 7,” he said. “He’s our captain, the last remaining player from our 2002 champion team. He was unbelievable and set the tone early. Another big contributor was Celino (Cruz) who was absent in Game 6 but played quality minutes in Game 7.”

But the victory couldn’t have been possible without coach Bo Perasol and the Big Three – Gary David, Jvee Casio and Marcio Lassiter, not necessarily in that order.

Down the stretch in Game 7, Perasol took out two small yellow pieces of paper from his shirt pocket and intently read from the notes. “It was a Biblical verse from Joshua 1:9,” Perasol said. “’Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.’ That was God’s promise that I was holding on to.”

Casio hurt the hamstring in his right thigh and didn’t finish Game 7 but took Best Player honors with 25 points, seven rebounds and five assists in 35 minutes. “In the finals, we’ll stay aggressive and play our game,” he said. “We’ll compete, we’re in there to fight. We’re confident in what we can do. I’m not trying to prove I deserved to be the No. 1 pick. I’m just doing my best to compete.”

Lassiter said the long journey from Gilas to the PBA was worth the trip. “In Game 7, we focused on playing tough interior defense because we knew Rain Or Shine would attack us inside,” he said. “(Paul) Lee is really poised as a rookie but I told coach Bo I’d take him on straight up, one-on-one.”

David was his usual explosive self but got a lot of help from his supporting cast. Doug Kramer, for instance, delivered 12 points and 15 rebounds with no turnover. “I can take the banging, ako pa?” he said. “Beau (Belga) is a physical player and in a previous game, patted me on the butt, saying don’t take it too seriously, it’s a joke. But in Game 7, after he hit me on the back of the head, he didn’t say a word.”