By Jonas Terrado
The mission of removing the ugly tag as the league’s “whipping boys” still remains a process for the Columbian Dyip despite what appears to be an impressive start through four games in the PBA Philippine Cup.
Reinforced by top overall pick CJ Perez and fellow rookies JP Calvo and Jeepy Faundo, the Dyip have shown resemblance of a fight by going 2-2 to begin the season-opening conference, marked by victories over defending champion San Miguel Beermen and erstwhile unbeaten NorthPort Batang Pier.
But their dismal start in Sunday’s 107-97 defeat at the hands of the NLEX Road Warriors clearly showed that coach Johnedel Cardel has a lot of work to do to turn Columbian’s fortunes around.
In that game, the Dyip allowed the Road Warriors to unleash a fiery start and fell by 31 in the third quarter.
Columbian did manage to pull within five twice in the fourth before its comeback attempt fell short.
“I told the guys that every team in the PBA is a strong team except for us,” said Cardel. “But now that we’re competitive, we have to play as a team and show some toughness each game.”
The Dyip have been labeled as a laughingstock since the franchise was accepted into the PBA fold in 2014.
Last season, Columbian won just six games under coaches Chris Gavina, Ricky Dandan and Cardel.
That enabled Columbian to tap the former NCAA Most Valuable Player in Perez as the No. 1 selection in the December draft while also getting diminutive guard Calvo late in the first round.
Columbian also got Faundo, who was left unsigned by Magnolia despite being a second round pick.
Despite an up-and-down production with averages of 16.0 points on 36 percent shooting with 7.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.0 steals, Perez has been able to provide the spark for the Dyip on both ends.
So is Calvo, who has been a spark for the Dyip at 10.0 points per contest, even as Faundo has been solid with 6.7 points and 5.3 boards in three appearances.
Also logging solid numbers are holdovers Reden Celda, whose minutes have risen following an injury to Jeremy King resulting to a 13.3-point clip, power forward Jackson Corpuz (12.3 points, 5.6 rebounds) and Rashawn McCarthy (12.0 points).