Stuck in traffic, Macaraya happy Cafe France still delivered

San Sebastian has officially named Egay Macaraya as its new head coach. Macaraya was part of the Stags team that won the NCAA title in 1985. Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Pulling a double duty on Thursday, coach Egay Macaraya was relieved that at least one of his teams emerged victorious.

The veteran mentor arrived before the third quarter of Cafe France’s game against Blustar Detergent at Ynares Sports Arena in the 2016 PBA D-League Foundation Cup, where the Bakers already had a sizeable lead en route to their 90-61 win.

“Grabe ang traffic,” remarked Macaraya, who had been stuck in the horrendous standstill in Shaw after coming from San Juan for his duties with San Sebastian.

While he was anticipating traffic, Macaraya wasn’t prepared for the intensity of it worsened by the heavy downpour in Pasig.

Thankfully, his assistant coaches kept him on the loop as his game plan before hand worked to a tee.

“Inasahan na namin yung traffic and pinaguusapan na namin yun kahapon pa lang sa practice. Sinabihan ko sila na if ever mapunta man ako ng late, si coach Yong (Garcia) will handle the team,” he said. “I’m happy that our gameplan was in full effect today.”

But while he had full confidence on his team, Macaraya couldn’t help but worry about his Bakers, especially after San Sebastian suffered a 76-61 defeat to Perpetual in the NCAA.

“Naipit talaga ako sa traffic kaya talagang tawag muna ako sa kanila kung ano ang nangyari. Pero knowing na lumalamang kami, medyo nakampante naman ako,” he said.

But Macaraya may want to avoid traffic next week as Cafe France renews its rivalry against Phoenix in what is expected to be a dogfight.

“Alam naman natin na pag Phoenix ang kalaban, it’s all about kung sino ang maging nasa taas. Nandoon yung competitive spirit for both teams palagi kaso naglaban na kami dati sa championship,” he said. “It will be a good game and I know both teams want to win that game badly.”