The players took the day off but the coaching staff was closeted in a war room, watching tape, scribbling game notes, and preparing for the start of the quarterfinals on either June 4 or 6.
"Dumaan kami sa butas ng karayom," said Caidic yesterday. "Our initial goal was to make it to the quarterfinals by at least splitting all our games and beating Shell twice which was important because we’re in the same group. So our target was to win 10 games. We finished four wins short kasi we were swept by Coca-Cola, Alaska, San Miguel, and Red Bull. We had at least four heartbreaking losses kaya we were within our goal. Luckily, nakapasok pa kami sa quarterfinals even if we did it not the way we wanted. Sa next phase, we’ve got to win at least two of three games. It’s hard to sweep but we’ll try our best."
Surviving was a big relief for Caidic who confessed he was under tremendous pressure to deliver.
"I would be a hypocrite to say all that criticisms didn’t affect me or my family," he said. "Na-test ang patience ko. You know naman my personality, I’m intense and temperamental. Kung four or five years ago nangyari ito sa akin, malamang may kaso na ako. This experience was an all-time low for me in terms of criticism. On TV, the newspapers, text, sa kalye, everybody had something to say negative tungkol sa akin. It was like I couldn’t do anything right."
Despite the brickbats, Caidic said the thought of resigning never entered his mind.
"I’m not afraid to fail," he continued, "I’m not a quitter. I just want to prove myself–that I can do the job. If I quit, it will haunt me the rest of my life. I told myself, no matter what happens, I’ll just try my best. If my best isn’t good enough, I can take the consequences. Taas-noo ako because I know I did my best."
Caidic said he wouldn’t have survived without the trust of Ginebra management, the support of the players and coaching staff, his family, and of course, the Lord.
"I owe it all to Him up there," he said. "The day of our game against Shell, I went to 12 noon Mass at Mount Carmel with my family. Wala naman mga taong lumapit sa church kasi regular kami roon. We prayed for His help to get us through."
Before the game, Caidic said he told the players to treat it like the championship was on the line.
"We got a big lift from Red Bull kasi it came down to a do-or-die instead of a twice to beat," explained Caidic. "I told the guys it’s all up to us. Forget the Xs and Os. It’s all about desire which team wants it more. No tomorrow na ito."
At the half, Shell led by three and Caidic regrouped his charges in the dugout. "I told the guys to look at the score," he related. "We were down by three even if we struggled offensively. Our defense held Shell to only 32 so that was a good sign. Things will change in the second half. I told the guys to focus on defense, not to quit. We wanted to stop (Dale) Singson."
In the end, Caidic was ecstatic. "I told the guys we just have three games in the quarterfinals, that we shouldn’t be content making it to the next level," he said. "We were given the chance to advance so we should make the most of the opportunity. We made some adjustments in defense late in the game, like doubling Singson and using zone."
Caidic said the long wait before the start of the quarterfinals may make the Kings stale. Today, they return to the gym to prepare for the next grind.
"We’ll use the layoff to work on adjustments during practice and to recover from injuries–sina Bal (David) at Mark Caguioa) suffered slight sprains in the Shell game at si Elmer (Lago) is in the injured list because of his heel, kaya we reactivated Gilbert (Malabanan)," said Caidic. "Masaya kami, siyempre, kasi we made it to the quarterfinals at back to zero kami. Three games are next–each one, we should treat like a do-or-die kasi there’s no time to recover from a loss."
Caidic talked about Ginebra’s chances in the quarterfinals.
"Against Red Bull in the eliminations, we kept on doubling DaVonn (Harp) kaya pinatay naman kami sa labas," he mused. "We can’t afford to play uptempo because that’s their strength. We’ve got to avoid turnovers and play good transition defense. We match up well against Talk N Text. Asi (Taulava) and Jimmy (Alapag) are their key players. We can’t stop them completely but we can contain them. We’ve also got to watch their new guys. Coca-Cola’s strength is quickness. Even their big guys like (Rafi) Reavis, (Poch) Juinio, and Rudy (Hatfield) are quick. That’s our disadvantage because we aren’t as quick so we have to play tougher defense to take away their quickness."
Caidic said he’s not promising a slot in the semifinals. What he’s promising is the Kings will play their best to move up to the Final Four.
What makes Ginebra a dangerous proposition in the playoffs is once it gets going, it’s difficult to stop because the crowd fuels the team’s momentum. Now that the Kings are in the quarterfinals, there’s no telling how far they’ll go.