PBA: Sedrick Barefield explains decision to go for pull-up 3 down 1 in Blackwater-TNT tiff

Sedrick Barefield admitted that he should have passed the ball to Rob Upshaw inside instead of taking a three against Bol Bol late with Blackwater just down one against TNT. PBA Images

By Ivan Saldajeno

ANTIPOLO--When you have a seven-foot, 374-pound teammate sealing a six-foot-two opponent down low, it is basically an imperative for you to pass the ball immediately to your bigger teammate for the easy deuce.

However, Sedrick Barefield decided to still try his luck from the outside despite the presence of the lengthy Bol Bol in the dying moments of the Blackwater-TNT showdown on Tuesday night at the Ynares Center 1.

Off a pick-and-roll action with the Bossing down one, 94-95, Rob Upshaw screened RR Pogoy, forcing Bol to help in defense to guard Barefield while Upshaw got into a solid position to shoot over Pogoy inside the paint.

However, Barefield decided to pull up against Bol's outstretched arms from 22 feet out.

Barefield badly missed the triple to the frustration of Upshaw, who could have easily given their team the lead with only Pogoy to worry about.

"When I got the switch, I saw Rob rolling, but I saw basically four guys rolling up. And the shotclock was around three seconds, so I just tried to create space and get a shot," Barefield explained his decision to Dugout Philippines.

Barefield conceded that passing the ball to Upshaw would have been the better decision, but he admitted that confidence got in his way since he buried a three-pointer over Bol in the previous play.

"I probably could have given Rob the ball, but with me hitting that last three, I thought I had enough space," Barefield further said.

"I've wished I would have made a better decision, but it's part of the process and the game."

Upshaw, whose only made outside shots during the game were from four-point range, got his chance to steal the win for Blackwater, but Bol once again prevailed in disrupting the play as Upshaw airballed his last try from 27 feet out.

Barefield revealed that he did not have a direct offensive role in the said play, supposedly acting as a support for Dalph Panopio.

"We tried to get Dalph curling to the corner for a three. I was running off of Dalph for a flare, and Rob was popping when he was supposed to make that play and pass to the corner. But I'm sure he probably felt like he wanted the ball in that possession on the floor. I saw how frustrated he was," Barefield further said.

Instead of slaying a giant in the Tropang 5G in Pat Aquino's debut as head coach, the Bossing instead fell to 1-5 midway through the elimination round.

Barefield admitted that they are now compelled to do well in the second half of the preliminaries, at least to get a shot at making the quarterfinals.

"We feel the pressure. We know we need every single game, so we're just gonna continue to build on tonight. I think we fought hard," he further said, despite having only learned Aquino's system for a few days.

However, Barefield also said that the short time to embrace the new coaching style could make things difficult for them as they now essentially need to sweep their remaining six games to get the best shot at making the Last 8.

"The execution was obviously a little rough. It's a different system and shot profile for everybody, so it's a little bit harder to get into rhythm. But I think that we're making steps in the right direction. We're playing a little bit faster and defending, so we just need to be more of a unit, and I think we'll be OK," Barefield concluded.

Blackwater will play Phoenix next on Friday night before battling San Miguel and Ginebra in a tough three-game stretch.