Everyone wants San Juan's crown says coach Randy Alcantara

On their own floor, the San Juan Knights were given a huge scare by the Pasay Voyagers as they scraped out a tight win last Friday.

For coach Randy Alcantara, they conceded the fact that they have relaxed on their first home game since the penultimate tiff in the Datu Cup finals, after leading by as much as 21 in the second quarter before igniting late fightback to go 2-0.

"Maganda yung dinepensa nila pati yung atake nila", he said, after the defending MPBL champions escape the FilOil FlyingV Centre on their home opener. "Credit to them, talagang maganda yung gameplan nila para sa amin. Medyo nag-lielow ang depensa nila."

He further admitted that the Knights had been complacent when they lead 26-5, and that gave Pasay a huge motivation as they aggressively slashed the lead down to just nine at the half, to three after the third, and even took the lead in the final three minutes before their championship composure got them back for their second straight win.

"Yun naman ang tendency nung mga nalalamangan. Wala yan magagawa kundi humabol ng humabol."

Despite an unbeaten start, he even thinks that the two close wins implied that the rest of the field wants not just a piece of their crown, but the entire thing as a huge target was now on San Juan's backs early on this season
"Sinabi ko pa lang eh, nagpalakas halos lahat ng teams. Expected ko na to na ganito yung mangyayari."

He even bared that they sorely lacked the presence of a legitimate power forward, have left a huge dent on their rotation, leaving him with little options apart from tweaking his side.

"Kulang talaga kami sa posisition sa four, kaya si Jhonard Clarito and Patrick Aquino, yun ang nagiging four namin," Alcantara added, as Larry Muyang's departure left a huge dent on their rotation as they were reduced to veteran Larry Rodriguez to fill the void apart from the aforementioned two. "Nabubugbog si Larry kaya lumiit kami."

And yet despite the torrential rain that ravaged the metro, it feels good for him that the crowd inside FilOil cheered on as they inspired their Knights into a comeback win.

"Kinabahan, siyempre. Ganoon ako katiwala dun sa players ko na alam ko na hindi basta-basta ibibigay yun. Kaya ayun, nakuha pa rin namin hanggang huli."

(photo by Harold Biado/San Juan Knights)

Pinoyliga is the digital media partner of the San Juan Knights, the defending MPBL National Champions.