TIP coach says semis matchup with Marinerong Pilipino is going to be interesting
TECHNOLOGICAL Institute of the Philippines and Marinerong Pilipino put their history aside when the 2019 PBA D-League Foundation Cup semifinals begin on Thursday at Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.
Partners in the 2018 Foundation Cup that led to a semis trip, the Engineers and the Skippers are now foes as they are set to slug it out in Game One of the best-of-three affair at 3:30 p.m.
"Poetic. Marinero-TIP last conference," quipped TIP head coach Potit De Vera. "With that partnership, we made it all the way to the playoffs. It's going to be interesting. It's going to be fun."
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The Engineers have been nothing short of impressive this conference, clinching the two-seed in Group B with their 5-1 card before maximizing their win-once edge over Black Mamba in the quarterfinals.
But they will be in for a tough challenge as they will face the Skippers, undoubtedly Group A's top dogs, which have been unscathed so far with seven straight wins behind the leadership of Eloy Poligrates.
The former PBA cager has been on a tear with averages of 23.8 points, 3.7 assists, and 3.0 rebounds, making him the frontrunner for the Conference MVP honors.
De Vera, though, is undaunted.
"We are here to compete," he said. "It's going to be one great player against five TIP players. Isa lang naman ang bola so we have to take care of one guy against five guys. That's how we look at it. They're gonna play against a TIP team, not a TIP player. It doesn't matter kung sino yung mga who's who nila ngayon sa lineup, we're gonna compete."
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Coach Yong Garcia, however, isn't fazed much with history whatsoever, as his only concern is correcting Marinerong Pilipino's flaws as it plans to make it all the way to the big dance for the first time in franchise history.
"Ang focus namin is more on correction sa mga mali namin especially on defense," he said. "Hopefully sa semifinals trabahuhin ulit ng mga players para makarating kami sa Finals."
