Jason Perkins (with ball) and the Fuel Masters refused to be held down by the Bolts despite a slight bump firstly. Phoenix will now be shooting to get to uncharted waters and hopefully go all the best way. —AUGUST DELA CRUZ
The revelries contained in the Phoenix Super LPG locker room got here in brief bursts on Sunday night.
Understandably so. The Fuel Masters, in spite of everything, still have two more mountains to scale within the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup before they go wild on a celebration for the ages.
The primary of those two treks will begin on Wednesday against Magnolia, the league’s top-seeded club. But with a surplus of leaders and hungry kids, head coach Jamike Jarin is liking his probabilities.
“I’m comfortable with the best way things are going,” he said on his way out of Mall of Asia Arena, on the heels of an 88-84 victory over Meralco in a game the Fuel Masters needed to play after losing of their first probability within the quarterfinals. The win can have come a game late, but they’re in only their third Final 4 appearance nonetheless.
“The leadership of RJ (Jazul), the leadership of (Jason) Perkins, of RR (Garcia) and of (Javee) Mocon. [Those] are the fellows who’re really making this team overachieve. So it has been a collective effort.”
Boosted by the presence of team owner Dennis Uy, the hungry Fuel Masters bounced back from a stinging 116-107 triple additional time loss last Friday.
The veterans’ grit, stacked with the all-around brilliance of import Johnathan Williams III and young guns Tyler Tio, Kenneth Tuffin and Ricci Rivero, should give the Fuel Masters a fighting probability against the league’s traditional defensive juggernaut. But Perkins is using an early slight to further fuel Phoenix’s drive.
“Everybody slept on us. They didn’t consider us to be here. But we’re gonna try our greatest,” he said, referring to preseason projections where Phoenix was hardly a pick.
‘Different teams’
Interestingly, there needs to be no shortage of inspiration for Perkins, the club’s finest local with 14.4 points and 6.6 rebounds per game average, as he can be one among the three holdovers from the 2020 Philippine Cup squad—when the league played within the bubble in Angeles—that was the last to succeed in the semifinals.
That series against TNT went right down to the deciding Game 5.
“Two completely different teams. I feel it’s just me, RJ, and RR who’re still here. So it’s a very latest [team],” said Perkins because the 2020 team was still bannered by Calvin Abueva. “But I feel we’ve prepared for it, prepared our greatest. So yeah, definitely excited to get back there.
“That team was also the last squad outside of the PBA’s two top conglomerates to have reached the Final 4. So naturally, Perkins and Jarin—an assistant during that campaign over three years ago—would wish to take this one even further.
“Everybody’s expecting Magnolia to win. But it surely’s a series, so let’s see,” said Jarin.
“The one who stays healthy goes to win the series. I hope for each teams to be healthy so it could be a good and exquisite game come Wednesday,” he added. INQ
