No déjà vu for Caloy

For Rain or Shine assistant coach Caloy Garcia, it was an ending that will be difficult to forget. The game was San Miguel Beer against the Elasto Painters in the PBA Governors’ Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium last Thursday. The Elasto Painters were up, 112-111, after Felix Lemetti drained four free throws and the Beermen had no timeout left with 3.0 seconds to go.

San Miguel import Jordan Adams inbounded from the backcourt endline and pitched it to CJ Perez running the floor. Perez threw it to June Mar Fajardo who launched from about 18 feet. The ball didn’t go down cleanly and took a high bounce before dropping in. The miracle shot came within regulation and San Miguel won, 113-112. Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao could only smile in amazement, probably thinking it could’ve only been the PBA’s eight-time MVP to convert the buzzer beater.

Last Sunday, Garcia was on the bench as La Salle assistant coach for the UAAP game against NU at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. Kevin Quiambao sank a triple to push the Archers on top, 78-75, with 9.8 ticks remaining. NU sued for time. Unlike in the San Miguel contest where the Beermen had extinguished their timeouts, Bulldogs coach Jeff Napa could map out the final play. La Salle had three fouls to give and Napa knew coach Topex Robinson would try to kill time by fouling. Instead of advancing the ball, Napa opted to inbound from the backcourt. That caught Robinson, Garcia and the La Salle coaching staff slightly by surprise. Perhaps, Napa figured if San Miguel scored with 3.0 seconds from the length of the court, NU could do it with 9.8. It was a gamble. Maybe, NU wanted to throw off La Salle’s defense since Robinson could’ve presumed the Bulldogs would advance. Maybe, NU planned to push with their cat-quick guards. La Salle’s advantage was it could give up fouls in the backcourt and wouldn’t be in danger of committing a shooting foul. If NU advanced, the Bulldogs could put up a shot, knowing La Salle will foul and fish for free throws. As it turned out, La Salle gave up one foul to take off two seconds from the clock, leaving NU with 7.8 seconds to make a shot but the Archers found no need to foul again. NU unleashed two desperate triples that missed before time expired.

Garcia heaved a sigh of relief. No déjà vu, no second nightmare. La Salle escaped but needed a 14-4 closer with Quiambao scoring nine to seal it. NU put up a gallant stand even as import Mohamed Diassana limped off the court after 4:04 minutes in the first quarter and never came back. Despite a shorter lineup, the Bulldogs outscored the Archers, 50-38, in paint points and repeatedly penetrated the gaps in La Salle’s 3-2 zone. There were 10 deadlocks and 13 lead changes, indicating it could’ve gone either way. La Salle’s lineup lists seven rookies and Robinson is missing Evan Nelle, Poli Policarpio, Ben Phillips, Ef Escandor, Mark Nonoy, Joaqui Manuel and Bright Nwankwo from last year’s championship cast.