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| With practice partners Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili "playing heavily on his mind" after they passed away, Jordan Heading led TNT's inspired basketball in Game 4 of the PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals. Peter Baltazar |
QUEZON CITY—If Jordan Heading is to be interpreted, TNT basically dedicated Game 4 of the PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals to Ateneo players Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili, whose promising basketball careers were cut short by a life-ending drowning incident.
After all, both the Tropang 5G and Blue Eagles share the same practice facility, the Moro Lorenzo Sports Center inside the nearby Ateneo campus.
"I wanna take the time to give my love to the families of Rene and Divine. That played heavily on our minds," Heading said.
Coach Chot Reyes added that he had fond memories of Adili, who had been with Ateneo for two years before his tragic passing, saying that it was never the same again when TNT practiced at the said training hall on Tuesday.
"It was really surreal stepping into the Moro Lorenzo court and gym without Divine's 'Good morning, coach' greeting right there," Reyes said.
He revealed that the drowning incident in Dipaculao, Aurora was something the Tropang 5G discussed during Tuesday's training too.
Reyes further said that Sandy Arespacochaga, who had been in the Blue Eagles' coaching staff for over two decades, mostly as an assistant coach and at one point the head coach too, has been helping both the team and the school in addressing the situations brought about by the drowning incident even if he already left the team following his new assignment as head coach of Gilas Pilipinas' women's youth team.
"He's no longer a part of the Ateneo coaching staff, but still, we allowed him to leave practice yesterday. He was constantly on the phone and actually asked to report to the university president. Then today, also in the pre-game. He was with the team when they paid their respects, so we gave him a lot of time. And we told coach Sandy not to worry about his responsibilities first with Talk 'n Text because for us, there are a lot of things more important than a championship series, and that's one of them," Reyes said, adding that Arespacochaga made it to the Smart Araneta Coliseum just in time for the start of Game 4.
With their fallen friends on their minds, TNT played inspired basketball and edged Ginebra to force a 2-2 deadlock in the PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals in front of 18,623 fans at "The Big Dome".
