NOWHERE to go but up.
That is the attitude returning coach Ariel Vanguardia will espouse when he tries to steer Blackwater out of its doldrums in the PBA starting in this season’s second conference.
The Bossing’s rise may not come right away, but Vanguardia is confident they will ultimately do it.
“Siyempre gusto namin, gusto ko, right away. Pero alam din naming lahat na it will take some time and a lot of patience and tons of hard work before ma-hit namin ang target namin,” said Vanguardia, who was tapped to replace Nash Racela last September.
Racela was axed after Blackwater failed to win a single in 11 tries in the Philippine Cup.
Together with an eight-game slide to finish off the same tournament last year at Clark, the Dioceldo Sy-owned franchise now has the longest losing streak in PBA history.
Vanguardia’s immediate goal is to snap the Bossing out of that funk.
“Break muna iyung losing streak, before anything else,” Vanguardia told Malaya-Business Insight.
“Ako naman, gusto ko talaga playoffs, quarterfinals man lang. Iyon ang modest goal ko personally. Para mawala na ‘yung baggage na iyon and maumpisahan na ‘yung maka-compete na ulit.”
The real target for Vanguardia, who has previously coached TNT and Phoenix, are the seasons following next year’s rookie draft.
“Mayroon kaming three first round picks, then two second round,” he said. “So may Nos. 1, 10 and 12 kami, tapos ‘yung 13 na parang first round na rin. With those picks, siguro naman we can gather enough material para lumakas itong team.”
Even now, Vanguardia is already trying to put some of the right pieces in place.
Just days after being hired, Vanguardia arranged for trades that netted him Rashawn McCarthy from Terrafirma for Simon Enciso and Jayvee Casio and Barkley Ebona from Alaska for Mike Tolomia and a future second round pick. Free agents Val Chauca and Juneric Baloria were also tapped.
For the coming second conference, set to kick off later this month, Vanguardia plans to bring in Jaylen Bond, a former Temple Owl and NBA D-League campaigner who last saw action in Bahrain.
“Rekomendado ng mga kaibigan kong coaches sa US, wala daw toyo,” said Vanguardia.
Vanguardia’s only problem now is getting an LGU approval for his team to be able to conduct full practices at the Splendido resort in Laurel, Batangas, since PBA teams are only allowed to conduct sessions in areas with more relaxed quarantine status than that in the NCR.
The PBA has also already requested the IATF to allow the imports to come in and play, an approval which would also enable the pro league to set an exact date for the start of the second conference.
Vanguardia is unperturbed by the uncertainty. “Basta naka-start kami ng practices, kahit magka-delay-delay ang opening okay lang sa akin,” he said. “Mas pabor sa amin iyon para mas mag-familiarize kami sa isa’t-isa.”
