Jumbo Plastic-Basilan etched its name in the record books of the 2021 Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup with their 118-84 rout of the Kapatagan Buffalo Braves.
Their 118-point performance broke the scoring record set by MisOr just last Sunday with 111 points. Basilan also scored 41 points in the third canto, which was also a new mark in the budding regional pro league.
However, setting records in scoring isn't new to the teams handled by head coach Jerson Cabiltes. It can be recalled that in September 2019, the BRT Sumisip Basilan-St. Clare burnt the nets at the Paco Arena in their 180-117 demolition of the Hyperwash in the PBA D-League Foundation Cup, which set a new record for most points scored in D-League history.
Cabiltes said their focus isn’t necessarily on putting the ball in the basket, but rather, stopping their opponent from scoring.
"Actually, those records I don't see them as offensive explosions. It's more of defense bago nagkaroon ng offense," said Cabiltes. "The goal is always to play man-to-man full-court defense to force the opponent to commit turnovers," he added.
Cabiltes has always placed a premium on great defense, as evidenced by their defensive rating in the last Chooks-to-Go MPBL Lakan Cup. Known as the Basilan Steel in that league, the team ranked fifth in the 31-team field in steals with an average of 9.5, that led to an average of 15.7 fastbreak points per game, good for third in the league.
Cabiltes, though, wants his team to focus, not on the accolades, but rather, on every opponent in every game.
"'Yung sa team ko nga hindi ako natuwa sa laro namin against Iligan kasi parang nag dip down yung energy at effort so we want to sustain those for 40 minutes," Cabiltes said. (JNP)