What the Bataan Risers can learn from their loss to San Juan

MANILA, Philippines – The Bataan Risers fell to the San Juan Knights, 67-61, in their Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League Datu Cup showdown at the Bataan People’s Center Monday evening. 

The loss snapped the Risers’ 14-match win streak, leaving Bataan with a 14-2 mark while hiking San Juan’s win-loss total to 15-3. 

The season, of course, is a long way until it’s done. The loss, as it is said in sporting terms, “is better now than later.” 

What happened and how can the Risers learn from this?

First, the tale of the tape

Bataan’s stars were awfully flat.

Outside Alfred Batino, no one scored in double digits. Furthermore, the team’s stars were off target.

Pamboy Raymundo – 1-8
Gary David 1-8
Byron Vilarias 1-6
Jeepy Faundo 2-6
Jayjay Alejandro 2-8
Robbie Celiz 1-7

Other than Batino, the only one who shot well was Vince Tolentino, who hit 4-of-6 and finished with eight points, six rebounds and two assists.

It wasn’t only being off-target, it was the shot selection. When the game clock was ticking away, instead of going for the higher percentage shot, the Risers continued to take shots from the outside. The Knights on the other hand – even if we say, buenas – would still take shots inside through Larry Muyang and Larry Rodriguez.

The endgame was also a result of the battle of the boards

San Juan hauled down 56 rebounds to Bataan’s 43. They also had a 21-11 advantage on the offensive glass. While the Knights only managed two more second chance points 13-11, that amount of time chewed off more game clock, which is not good for a team trying to rally.

The Knights came in with a lot of energy

They not only grabbed more rebounds, but they hustled for the ball and were pesky on defense. They harried the Risers into turnovers.

Now that the streak is (literally) history, what can the Risers learn from this?

If the Risers continue to compile wins, they will probably at some point, lock horns with San Juan again. There is much to be learned.

There is a need to shore up that frontline

Barkley Eboña is going to help this team along with the hard-working Alfred Batino and Bernie Bregondo. However, the Risers cannot simply rely on three players as they will need all hands-on deck to help out on the boards.

Bataan’s stars need to take it to a higher level

While the team effort scoring-wise is good, they will need some of their stars to play more consistently. They will need to assert themselves more.

In the individual players’ previous teams — college or otherwise —  only Gary David, Byron Villarias and Jayjay Alejandro were “The Man;” meaning they took the bulk of the shots and led their squads. With Alejandro going to the PBA Draft, some of the Risers will really need to step up and take it to another level. 

Who can step into that role? Pamboy Raymundo and Robbie Celiz. Gab Daganon too. It should be noted that in Raymundo’s college and pro teams, he was a solid point guard who heavily contributed but there was always someone else to take the big shots — Calvin Abueva and Ronald Pascual in San Sebastian in college, NLEX in the PBA D-League, Jayson Castro and Jimmy Alapag with Talk ‘N Text, and Jason Perkins with Cignal. Can Raymundo do it? Absolutely. He has been known to take big shots as well.

When Villarias played with Jose Rizal University, he had some tough and solid teammates like John Lopez, Alex Almario, and Michael Mabulac. Jordan Dela Paz and Philip Paniamogan were up and coming players, but Villarias would torch foes. He was off target against San Juan, but as basketball great Allan Caidic once said, “go for the high percentage shot first then you can take it from the outside.”

When Celiz was with RTU, he was the Man. When he transferred to NU, he played alongside Ray Parks, Troy Rosario, Jean Mbe and Alejandro. But he does know what it is like to lead a team. Knowing Robbie, he will bounce back from this. 

While Daganon played with Scottie Thompson, Justine Alano, Harold Arboleda and Juneric Baloria, he knows what it is like to lead a team. When Perpetual Help’s Fantastic Four graduated, Daganon took charge. But he will need touches and minutes to get his confidence going.

I am not sure if they can bring in more players, but now, Bataan knows firsthand what they are up against, it is imperative they bring in some reinforcements.

The loss is “good” because the season is just at its midway point. Even with the loss, Bataan is still No. 1 in the league in terms of percentage of wins. At 14-2 they are at 88 percent. San Juan is at 83 percent.

The coaching staff of Bataan, led by Jojo Lastimosa, can make adjustments. A streak can be misleading and give a false sense of security. As one can see from current back-to-back UAAP champions Ateneo, their strong preseason gave them a false sense of security. When they took two losses in the first round, that jolted them and they ran a very impressive 10-game win streak en route to the UAAP crown.

As the saying goes, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. No doubt, the Bataan Risers will learn from this and come back stronger.