Cignal showcases hard work in D-League triumph

When he was coaching Far Eastern U in the UAAP, Nash Racela would gush on how Raymar Jose led the Tams by example. The burly big man would go all out even during practices, thus giving teammates no excuse to slack off.

That’s why when Jose was doing double duty in basketball—training with the national team and anchoring Cignal’s run in the PBA D-League—coach Boyet Fernandez would often sit the former FEU stalwart during practices.

“If you let him practice, he’s just going to go in there and play like it’s a game,” Fernandez said during an appearance at Sports IQ Thursday. “So rather than risk injuring him and making him unavailable for Gilas [Pilipinas], I’d just let him rest.”

Pamboy Raymundo’s commitment to Cignal’s D-League bid was just as solid. The tough-as-nails point guard would show up first during practice and log out after everybody had left.

“He’s just out there working on his game,” said Fernandez.

That commitment became even more critical when the Hawkeyes moved their practices to 5:30 a.m. to accomodate the class schedule of Jason Perkins. Raymundo didn’t mind the switch. He just showed up earlier.

“He’ll be there before 5:15,” Fernandez said. That the whole team agreed to practicing at dawn was a big reason for Cignal’s latest triumph in the D-League, where the Hawkeyes brushed aside Centro Escolar on the way to back-to-back titles in the season.

“It was easy to make the sacrifice to practice earlier because we knew what Jason could do for the team,” Raymundo said.

Perkins made it even easier for the team to adjust to the schedule: “Sometimes, he’ll be at the gym at 4 a.m.,” Fernandez said.

But at the heart of the victory is the hard work that the team put into winning the crown.

“That’s why I always tell sportswriters, credit to the players. Because I really mean it. You can be a good coach but nothing will happen if you don’t have players who will follow the system and put in the hard work,” added Fernandez, who is often jokingly chided by the sports press for his oft-repeated go-to post-game interview comment.

But Fernandez’ legacy in the D-League is no laughing matter. He has won eight titles in nine championship appearances. And sure, his teams were powerhouse squads on paper. But it was never an excuse for the team to give anything less than their best effort.

Jose knows why. As part of the Southeast Asian Games gold-winning Gilas Pilipinas cadets squad, Jose knows being guaranteed the title doesn’t mean you will end up winning.

“You still have to play hard because you don’t know what the opponent can do,” Jose said.

Because of his stint with Gilas Pilipinas in the SEA Games, Jose missed the championship series, leaving the Hawkeyes without a marquee big man against a squad that featured the towering Rod Ebondo.

But Raymundo and Jose, who was named D-League MVP while he was playing in the SEA Games final in Malaysia, were not concerned.

“We have faith in coach,” Raymundo said, And Jose agreed. “He is very hardworking and that gave us confidence against CEU.”

And with that hard work as a main weapon, there was no stopping Cignal from claiming yet another D-League crown.