Liberty-Aces series

Head coach Sandy Brondello didn’t feel comfortable at the break. The Liberty were determined to finish off the Aces via a sweep of their semifinal round series, but the first half of Game Three featured a lot of keeping pace and little of forging ahead. Unlike in Game Two, when they translated a fast start into an easy win, the set-to had them quickly giving up any advantage they had early on. And so she was keen on impressing upon her charges the importance of finishing off the defending champions at the first opportunity.

As things turned out, the Liberty not only proved unable to complete the task; they came nowhere close to being themselves. They were utterly shellacked by the Aces in the third quarter, turning a seeming slugfest into a veritable rout; they managed to score only six points while giving up 21, as much an indication of their shocking ineptitude as of their rivals’ resolve. And by the time the payoff period came around, they stared at an 18-point deficit that made the outcome all but inevitable.

Needless to say, Brondello was alarmed by the Liberty’s evident lack of spirit, especially during a critical stretch in the last two stanzas that had them down by as much as 25. Unfortunately, not even a bevy of timeouts could stem the tide, what with their foils buoyed by momentum and bent on knocking them out, and, in no small measure, aided by their glaring lack of competitiveness. Forget about the final score that reflected a much lower 14-point difference; garbage time came early, enabling them to regain some measure of pride as the Aces pulled starters and brought in erstwhile benchwarmers.

The fiasco notwithstanding, the Liberty remained upbeat in the aftermath. They acknowledged their shortcomings in Game Three, but vowed to be better — make that much better — today, and certainly more in line with their capabilities. Closing out a series, especially against the reigning titleholders, will not be easy, but Brondello has pledged to get them to be more prepared for the endeavor. And though they will again be plying their trade in front of 10,000-plus hostile fans at the Michelob ULTRA Arena, they figure to be all the better for their immediate past experience.

Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.