Credit to Barako’s resiliency

Barako Bull lost its last four outings in the PBA Governors Cup and crashed out of contention after losing to Meralco, 86-68, in the quarterfinals where the Energy had a twice-to-beat disadvantage. For coach Rajko Toroman, it was a disappointing finish particularly as he had high hopes of advancing to the semifinals before the start of the third conference. Still, the Serbian tactician lauded his charges for fighting until the end maybe with the exception of import Mike Singletary.

“I couldn’t understand it,” sighed Toroman. “Singletary averaged close to 36 points in his last three games before Meralco then he scored only nine points on 10 attempts and had just four rebounds in 45 minutes. Maybe, he was hurt. I don’t know. I didn’t talk to him after the game but he later sent word thanking me for the opportunity to play the best basketball of his life. Honestly, I don’t think he’ll be able to play like he did in the PBA anywhere in the world.”

In Barako’s last two games of the eliminations, the Energy lost a four-point decision to San Mig Coffee and a two-pointer to Alaska. “We had five turnovers in the last few minutes against San Mig Coffee. (Emman) Monfort hurt his shooting hand in that game and sat out the next, the close loss to Alaska. We could’ve beaten Alaska just like San Mig Coffee. Think of it, with our injuries and new players coming in from trades, we managed to finish ahead of Ginebra and Talk ‘N’ Text which you’ll admit have better lineups than us. I think that deserves some recognition. If we had beaten San Mig Coffee and Alaska, we would’ve gone up to No. 2.”

Toroman said Monfort’s hand is healing quickly. “He suffered a slight fracture in his hand but he’s fine now,” said Toroman. “We missed him in the games against Alaska and Meralco because he would’ve made an impact.”

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Toroman said several contracts are expiring this month. Among the players with expiring contracts are Danny Seigle, Celino Cruz, Wesley Gonzales, Chris Pacana and Shawn Weinstein. “Coaching Barako has been my biggest challenge since taking Iran to the Beijing Olympics,” said Toroman. “Despite our last loss, we should be credited for our fighting spirit. Without Emman, we lost our best facilitator. Maybe, we shouldn’t put the blame entirely on Singletary because Emman, who’s our No. 1 assist man, didn’t play and there was nobody who could feed him inside consistently. Without Emman, we turned to Celino and Shawn who made us very competitive.” Another key player in the injured list is Enrico Villanueva who played sparing minutes in Barako’s last five contests.

    Toroman admitted hearing rumors that one of Barako’s three first round picks in two weeks may be traded for a chunky defense-oriented point guard. There’s another rumor that Monfort is on his way to another team. Barako has already lost two key players Allein Maliksi and Doug Kramer in trades. Toroman said his lineup is composed mainly of players who’ve bounced around from team to team like Gilbert Bulawan, Ronjay Buenafe, Keith Jensen, Dorian Pena, Mark Macapagal, Mick Pennisi and J. C. Intal. But even with a shallow bench, Barako has been able to battle deeper teams ferociously.

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“I can’t speculate on what might happen because anything can happen,” said Toroman. “I’ve talked the situation over with Michael (Chua). Right now, we have the perfect opportunity to rebuild with young talent.” In the PBA draft on Nov. 3, Barako has the fourth, fifth and sixth picks in the first round, obtained from previous trades.

Toroman said assuming 7-0 Greg Slaughter, 6-7 Ian Sangalang and 6-7 1/2 Raymund Almazan are chosen among the top three candidates, he will pick the next three rookies from a pool consisting of Terrence Romeo, James Forrester, Jeric Teng and R. R. Garcia. Toroman hesitated to offer a clue as to whom Barako will choose. Another prospect J. R. Cawaling used to play for Toroman at Gilas.

A positive sign of the future is center Enrico Villanueva’s return from sick bay. He played five games in the Governors Cup. “We ‘re optimistic Enrico can bounce back,” he said. “His contract was recently extended.” A starting five of Villanueva at five, Jensen at four, Intal at three, Buenafe at two and Monfort at one will support Toroman’s goal of playing competitively from Day 1 of next season.