Quezon claims historic crown

Seize the moment.

This was the simple mindset instilled by Quezon Titans head coach Eric Gonzales to his wards when they joined the Pilipinas Super League (PSL).

So, when the golden opportunity came for the Titans to capture the President’s Cup crown, they just returned to their mantra.

Quezon completed a come-from-behind best-of-five championship series victory after beating Nueva Ecija, 77-64, in Game 4 Tuesday night in front of its home crowd inside the packed Quezon Convention Center in Lucena City.

“Even before we entered the PSL, my words to the was ‘time and chance happen to all,’” Gonzales told Daily Tribune a day after completing their historic conquest.

‘I always stress to the team the value of the moment.’

“I challenged them about, ‘What are we gonna do with that time and chance given to us?’ I told them that we’re not sure until when we’ll all be together but what we can do now is value this moment,” he added.

“I always stress to the team the value of the moment.”

Despite missing the services of injured stars Gab Banal (foot) and Francis Tamsi (hamstring) as well as Prince Rivero (broken nose), Quezon did not disappoint with other players stepping up led by Judel Fuentes, Jason Opiso, Ximone Sandagon and Robin Rono.

Down by 10 midway into the third period, the Titans buckled down on defense and made a decisive 21-3 blitz to shift the momentum to their favor and never looked back to wrap up the series, 3-1.

“Of course, we are very happy with this accomplishment. It’s a great feeling that we’re able to bring joy and pride to the people of Quezon,” Quezon team manager Atty. Donn Kapunan said.

“We’re able to quench the people of Quezon Province’s thirst for winning a national title in basketball. No other team has done that before. This is history — a first.”

“We can see how proud they are with the team. Mission accomplished for us.”  

Gonzales, on the other hand, lauded his players for their commitment throughout the tournament.       

“They have a great desire to help. We are all in this to learn. While we’re learning we’re trying to win as many games as we can, that’s the objective. I’m just thankful because they have a sense of humility to learn and be corrected. We always want to improve individually and as a team,” he said.

“We took it step-by-step. It’s a long process that involves a lot of hard work from fully understanding our viewing games, to correcting them individually and collectively. We try to grow together.”

Quezon came to the league without much expectation as it initially participated to keep the team in top form for the ongoing Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL).

“Initially, we tempered our expectations, and we didn’t expect to become champions. We really wanted to use this opportunity to strengthen our team for the MPBL,” Gonzales said.

“But when the opportunity came, I told them ‘Why not take this to the next level.”

The Titans dropped Game 1 but were able to snatch the equalizer in the next match on the Capitals’ home court. Quezon then made sure that the series will not extend into a do-or-die Game 5.

“It’s overwhelming because of the support of our team owners. They really took good care of us so I told our players that we should repay them with the best effort we could give,” Gonzales said of the team’s generous owners Quezon Governor Helen Tan, Ronnel Tan, Congressman Mike Tan and San Andres Mayor Ralph Lim.

“It’s also overwhelming to see the support of Quezon fans. They filled the venue and unfortunately, others wanted to see the game live waiting outside but the venue already reached its full capacity,” Gonzales added.

“This championship is for them. As our owners would always tell us, they formed this team for the more than two million Quezonians. So, we really wanted to make them proud.”

The Titans will have a two-day rest before going back to the barracks to train for their coming MPBL campaign.

Quezon will return to Nueva Ecija on Saturday for its match against Valenzuela.