BLESSING in disguise.
They didn’t know it at the time but losing Ranidel De Ocampo—who went out with a calf injury early in Game 3—may well turn out to be the best thing that could happen to the championship aspirations of the Meralco Bolts.
Facing a 0-2 deficit in the best-of-seven championship series of the 2017 Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup against Barangay Ginebra the Meralco Bolts lost their prized acquisition from TNT KaTropa after De Ocampo limped out of the court early in the game.
Meralco coach Norman Black, who had relegated Reynel Hugnatan to the far end of the Meralco bench after the arrival of De Ocampo, had no choice but to turn to the veteran big man.
After averaging just a point in six minutes of playing time in the first two games of the series Hugnatan exploded 22 quality points off seven-of-12 shooting from three-point distance. He also gobbled up five rebounds, issued two assists and tallied one steal without committing a single turnover to help power the Bolts to a rousing 94-81 win.
Even Ginebra coach Tim Cone couldn’t help but admire Hugnatan’s contributions. Cone later said Hugnatan could score from distance just as well as De Ocampo. Hugnatan was also a better defender according to Cone.
The Ginebra mentor probably knows Hugnatan as well as, if not better than, Black. After all, Hugnatan was Cone’s starting power forward with the Alaska Aces when the franchise won the 2007 and the 2010 PBA Fiesta Cup crown.
Hugnatan’s deadly outside shooting was so unexpected that it was enough to power the Bolts to the surprise rout of Barangay Ginebra.
The result of the game was so shocking that it even drove Cone to lose his cool after the match, as he refused to shake the hand of winning coach Black after the game. This was totally unexpected because it was Cone who initiated the practice of coaches shaking hands after games in the PBA.
Hugnatan was at it again in Game 4 when the Bolts equalized the series at two-all by posting a hard-earned 85-83 victory last Friday, October 20 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Hugnatan again played a key role as he scored points and grabbed important rebounds. He was also responsible for the final two points which decided the outcome.
Hugnatan drove into the paint and attracted the Ginebra defenders leaving Meralco import Allen Durham open underneath. Durham got the drop pass from Hugnatan and scored unmolested from underneath the basket to push Meralco to an 85-83 advantage which turned out to be the final score. Ginebra failed to call a timeout and missed four hurried attempts to tie the game in a wild sequence in the dying seconds.
Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. Without De Ocampo and without another big man in Kelly Nabong coach Black lucked out and was forced to field Hugnatan because he had no other choice. It has so far turned out to be the winning hand the past two games.