The night before the MPBL held the Northern Division knockout semifinal Game 3 between San Juan and Makati in Subic last Wednesday, head of operations Emmer Oreta emailed the rosters of the four teams involved in the playoffs. San Juan had 15 players in its lineup, Basilan 13, Davao Occidental 15 and Makati five. I thought the Makati cast was a mistake. Five players? Surely, there were omissions. I later found out that was it, no more, no less.
Not surprisingly, San Juan crushed Makati, 131-54 with all 15 Knights in the scoring column. The five Makati players were on the floor without relief – Edwin Asoro, Kako Morales, Carlou Jay Uy Lloren, Bhabap Sta. Maria and slam dunk king David Carlos. Makati could’ve walked away and lost by forfeit but opted to play it through with heads unbowed. “Hats off sa five men standing,” said MPBL commissioner Kenneth Duremdes. “Pinakita ng Makati na kahit kulang sila, lumaban pa rin until the end.” San Juan showed up in full force with NLEX’ Mike Ayonayon, former PBA players John Wilson and Larry Rodriguez and three PBA season 46 draft applicants Cedric Pelayo, Art Patrick Aquino and Andrew Estrella.
Missing from Makati’s squad were Joseph Sedurifa, Jeckster Apinan, Jong Baloria, Joshua Torralba and Cedric Ablaza who all played an instrumental role in leading the Super Crunch to a 91-88 win over San Juan in Game 2 of the semis last year, forcing the rubber match. Makati team owner Paolo Orbeta, in a Facebook post, said he called for a face-to-face meeting with the players when the MPBL announced the resumption of the cancelled Lakan Cup playoffs. “Five immediately agreed to play,” he said. “We offered a one-month allowance for 15 days of work plus bonus. After a few days, we called another meeting with the ex-pros trying to convince them to play. They countered with demands that quite frankly, I cannot afford. We did ask them to play and we will try to give them up to three months allowance. They said they will think about it. We told them to text our manager yes or no and if they don’t text at all, that means no. No one texted.” At least two disgruntled Makati players are claiming bad faith by management and they were short-changed.
The Southern Division knockout semifinal Game 3 between Basilan and Davao Occidental should’ve been played in a twinbill last Wednesday but was cancelled. Two Basilan players tested positive and teammates are now undergoing a seven-day quarantine. Duremdes said Basilan arrived in Subic last Monday with players based in Manila. “Two players (are) positive at hindi totoo nag-practice sila kasi late entry ang Basilan then after swab tests, pinasok sila sa quarantine hotel overnight pending test results,” said Duremdes. “Strictly implemented ang DOH guidelines sa lahat with strict monitoring ng SBMA.” The game has been reset to March 17 but if any of the Basilan players test positive, Davao Occidental will win by default. The best-of-five finals will begin on March 18 with games scheduled every day until the champion is crowned. Davao Occidental’s mainstays include PBA veterans Mark Yee, Jerwin Gaco, Bonbon Custodio, Billy Ray Robles and Bogart Raymundo while Basilan’s stalwarts list PBA veterans Mark Bringas, Jonathan Uyloan and Dennis Daa and Season 46 rookie hopeful Philip Manalang.