Antonio Hester vs Matthew Wright & Jason Perkins during the game between Phoenix and Terrafirma. PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines—Terrafirma has had the unfortunate label of being an afterthought in the PBA with the team never making the playoffs except for one conference in its young seven-year stay in the league.
The Dyip, however, slowly made some moves during the lull in between the conferences and brought in Alex Cabagnot, Justin Melton, and Kyle Pascual—three players with a wealth of experience in terms of winning championships.
That new mentality seemed to have shown itself in the Dyip’s first game of the Governors’ Cup when it featured in a tough 103-100 loss against Phoenix.
Matthew Wright said the Dyip squad they played against today is vastly different from the previous teams of the young franchise.
“You know Terrafirma is a good team, they made a lot of improvements on the roster, they have some championship pedigree,” said Wright who had 17 points, six rebounds, 10 assists, and two steals in the win.
The Dyip, whose only playoff appearance was in the 2016 Governors’ Cup as the fifth seed, acquired Melton and Pascual from Magnolia in exchange for 6-foot-10 center James Laput.
Terrafirma’s biggest acquisition, however, was Cabagnot who’s won nine titles all with San Miguel.
Melton, who was initially declared as unvaccinated but has since gotten his first dose, was part of Magnolia’s Grand Slam team in the 2013-14 season.
That championship savvy shone for Terrafirma early on in the game when it took a 67-50 lead midway through the third before Phoenix mounted a 23-4 run to take a 100-94 cushion in the fourth quarter.
“This is a good team, so you know they came out and they surprised us a little bit,” said Wright.