Two games, two heartbreaks for the Terrafirma Dyip early in the PBA Governors’ Cup.
Just days after a razor‑thin loss to the NLEX Road Warriors, Terrafirma again found itself on the wrong end of a nail‑biting finish, dropping a 105‑103 loss to the Converge FiberXers on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. Both times, the Dyip got good looks for potential game winners. Each time, the ball refused to drop.
Sad but Encouraging
After the Converge loss, Terrafirma import Justin Strings acknowledged that those two close calls were heartbreaking. But, according to the prolific American, there is still a positive takeaway from the twin defeats.
“It’s tough because two games in a row, we were one possession away from being 3‑0,” Strings said after the Converge game. “On one end, it’s sad because you want to win. On the other end, we feel good because we’re competing with other teams. We feel like if we clean up a few things, whether it’s turnovers or simple mistakes, we can win these games.”
One thing the Dyip should hope to avoid moving forward is falling behind in the middle quarters, as they did against both NLEX and Converge. Each time, Terrafirma fell behind by double digits in those stretches, forcing them to play catch‑up in the final frame.
Strings Has More to Give for Terrafirma
Terrafirma has certainly shown it can compete—and maybe even win. After two near‑misses, Strings is feeling good about the Dyip moving forward. That he is still acclimating to the Filipino brand of hoops should only embolden Terrafirma even more, especially after the 29-year-old Californian put up his best game in th PBA so far against Converge: 40 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists. He also shot 19-for-34 overall yet willingly gave the ball up to a wide-open Maverick Ahanmisi for the final shot. Ahanmisi just missed, and Strings remains defiant and optimistic.
“I feel like I’m still feeling my rhythm, finding my groove… Obviously they brought me here to score, but I wanna make sure I’m doing what I can to get us wins. I think we’re moving in the right direction,” Strings said.
Two games, two close calls. For a perennial bottom‑feeder, that certainly feels like a step in the right direction.
