Christian Standhardinger takes a more aggressive approach this time, finishing with team-bests in points and rebounds. —PHOTO COURTESY OF PBA IMAGES
ANGELES CITY—Pido Jarencio found success after a change in approach as NorthPort rolled past Terrafirma, 107-96, on Saturday night in the PBA Philippine Cup.
“I actually spoke with the players and at the same time, I thought to myself, ‘What if I changed my approach?’ You guys saw me earlier, I kept my cool all the way. you didn’t see me yelling out there,” he told reporters here at Angeles University Foundation powered by Smart 5G.
NorthPort indeed looked a different team throughout the contest: The Batang Pier moved the ball well, they were much more patient with the pace, and more importantly, they picked their shots with care.
Christian Standhardinger, who made up for a lackluster effort against NLEX last Wednesday, finished with team-bests 23 points and 12 rebounds on top of five assists.
Also feeling it on Saturday night was Kelly Nabong, who had 18 points, shooting four-of-six from deep, and eight rebounds as he covered for Sean Anthony, who continued to rest after a sore hamstring.
Rookie Renzo Subido, who seemed to have also largely benefited from the change in pace, shooting the lights out in the fourth period that basically kept Terrafirma on the backseat as the game went on.
Terrafirma crept within five late in the game before Subido and Nabong nailed triples that stretched the lead to 104-90, under two minutes to play.
CJ Perez, the Dyip’s star, had 26 points, six rebounds, and five assists, while rookie Roosevelt Adams tossed in 19 more effort while plucking down eight rebounds. But those efforts went down the drain and the team remained winless in four outings.
“The management, like (team governor) Erick Arejola, suggested, ‘Coach, you might want to consider changing your attitude,’” Jarencio said.
NorthPort’s brass felt there was a need to lighten the mood after a rough start for the Batang Pier in this tournament.
Jarencio agreed with his bosses largely because “the pressure here is hard to bear. It’s mounting whenever you lose. And you can’t really have a release in here.”
“You’d just have to walk outside and eat ice cream,” he added. “Everything here is both physical and mental.”