Knights’ deeper bench is key

As far as coach Philip Cezar is concerned, it was San Juan’s deeper bench that carried the Knights past the Negros Slashers, and into their first-ever MBA national title.

"If you would look deeply into it, it was the depth of our bench that brought us to the top," said Cezar, shortly after his charges wrapped up the best-of-seven finals, 4-2, before a jampacked crowd at the San Juan Coliseum last Saturday.

The title-clincher came in the form of a convincing 104-91 victory scored six days after Game 5 of the national finals was reset due to furious debris-throwing incident in the final quarter at the University of St. La Salle gym in Bacolod.

The Slashers, in the spirit of sportsmanship, eventually conceded the game, giving the Knights, who swept the first two games at home, a 3-2 advantage.

"Admittedly, we also got some luck in this series. But Negros just couldn’t contain our deep bench," added Cezar, who won the MVP title in the PBA in 1980 while playing for the fabled Crispa Redmanizers.

"Everybody contributed to this victory... from the utility men, to players, the coaching staff and the management," he added.

The recent victory capped a magical season for the Knights, who also won the Crossover title this year. Cezar, however, said they couldn’t have done it without the big support of management, from team owner Sandy Javier to team manager and presidential son Jinggoy Estrada, and their fans.

"Siyempre kailangan ko ding pasalamatan ang mga fans namin at ang management na patuloy na sumusuporta sa amin matalo man kami o manalo,"said Cezar.

For winning the national title, the Knights were promised a bonus of a one-month salary and a trip to Los Angeles, California.

Negros coach Robert Sison offered no excuses for the loss, saying: "We lost to them fair and square. Sayang, minalas lang talaga sa tao nitong mga huling laro."

After he singled out Bruce Dacia as the Knights’ biggest weapon in the finals, Cezar pointed to the 6-foot-9 Bonel Balingit, 6-foot-8 Rafi Reavis and 6-foot-6 Omanzie Rodriguez as the other Knights in shining armor, along with Chris Calaguio, Chito Victolero, Kelani Ferreira, Philip Newton and Danny Capobres.

"Pero kung tatanungin mo ako, si Bruce Dacia talaga ’yung nagdala ng team kapag ’yung mga starters ko ay minamalas," he said.