Teamwork key to Sealers rise in PBL Cup

By playing as a team, Henkel-Sista continued to flourish in the PBL Silver Cup even without star players.

"I think no one expected this team would do well because we don’t have superstars," said Henkel-Sista coach Caloy Garcia, whose wards lorded it over the field with a 6-2 (win-loss) slate in the classification phase.

Garcia has done wonders for the team of upstarts after Welcoat brought the likes of Jay-R Reyes, Marvin Ortiguerra, Jun Jun Cabatu, Jay Sagad, Eugene Tan and Jojo Tangkay into the PBA.

"I guess we’re playing more as a team than individually. We have no superstars, which makes our teamwork better. Every game, different players step up," Garcia said.

Truly, Garcia has been drawing superb games from almost all of his players, thus making the Super Sealers a team so difficult to stop because of its unpredictability.

In fact, at least five players are averaging nine to 12 points with University of the East hotshot Marcy Arellano leading the way with a norm of 12.38 points in seven games.

Rookie sensation Kelvin Gregorio, Arellano’s teammate at UE, is the team’s second leading scorer with an average of 11.75 points, followed by Khiel Misa’s 9.50 and Gilbert Malabanan and Conrad Fritz Bauzon, who both toted 9.12 points.

Malabanan, the only holdover from the old Welcoat team, is leading the team in rebounds with an average of nearly 10 boards, followed by Gregorio, Jam Alfad, Lawrence Bonus and 6-10 Samigue Eman, whose averages range from five to eight rebounds.

"The nice thing about this team on and off the court is they enjoy each other’s company," said Garcia, who steered Welcoat to the 2005 Unity Cup crown on a team built around Jay Washington, Ortiguerra, Tangkay, Reyes, Eugene Tan and Erwin Sta. Maria.