Frisbee fuels Fuel Masters bid

Phoenix head coach Jamike Jarin found an unusual way to inspire his men and lift their spirits in pursuing a playoff spot in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup.

Following a slip in an out-of-town game, Jarin gathered his players for practice and introduced a different warmup before their training session.

He made the Fuel Masters play ultimate frisbee.

It was a fun and laughter-filled run as players sweated it out chasing the disk.

Ultimately, Jarin got the effect he wanted as Phoenix played more relaxed and focused, netting a big fish in grand slam-seeking TNT, 95-81, last Friday in the PBA’s first-ever stop at the newly built Ynares Center-Montalban.

“I just wanted to put in something different. Usually, I do those kinds of stuff even before when I was still coaching high school, college, I would do those stuff,” Jarin said.

The Fuel Masters have improved to a 3-2 win-loss record and, more importantly, snared a huge victory that could come in handy in their quarterfinals push.

Jarin felt Phoenix needed to loosen up a bit following a tough loss to unbeaten Magnolia in Zamboanga City.

“The reason why we did that, we just wanted to have fun,” he explained.

“Like what I said, pre-game. We forgot to have fun. No matter what the results will be after 48 minutes, we have to have fun.”

The Fuel Masters did.

It was the response Jarin wanted all along.

“But I said it’s gonna be more fun, winning than having fun losing. And we all responded.”

Back on the win column, Phoenix eyes to sustain what it built in downing the Tropang 5G in a showdown with San Miguel Beer on 11 May at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.