Dorian Pena and the Barako Bull squad that fought back

It was Game 2 of the quarterfinals between the Petron Blaze Boosters and the Barako Bull Energy. The former led 1-0. A win that night would send them to the semis.

Barako Bull was tied with four other teams in the sixth to ninth positions at the end of the eliminations. But due to a superior quotient, they landed sixth and were on equal footing with a powerhouse Petron team. Maligned for their off-season moves which included trading away first round picks and letting go of Rajko Toroman, the Energy surpassed most expectations.

Still, in the quarterfinals, not much was expected from this downtrodden team of castaways.

After they lost the first game of the series, everyone expected Barako Bull to just fold as they’ve done so many times before. Everyone expected Petron to cruise to an easy win just because they were supposed to. With the Boosters building an early lead in the first quarter, people in the arena were ready to award the game to Petron.

“Tapos na ito,” they whispered. “Di na nila kaya.”

But something peculiar happened. The Barako Bull squad, a team with a first five that will find it tough matching up with Petron's second five, fought back. The Energy, one of the PBA’s perennial cellar-dwellers, actually stood up against the championship contender.

They had a lot of heroes that night. Rico Maierhofer led them in scoring. JC Intal had another awesome all-around game. Denok Miranda played with a familiar chip on his shoulder. Willie Miller again showed flashes of brilliance while thoroughly enjoying the game. All these players all had their best moments with other teams but they found themselves on this rag-tag team facing a team built for nothing less than a championship.

Among the castaways, one fought a particularly good fight.

“Our backs were against the wall. Petron is a good team, they have a good big man, good guards, and a good system,” said their starting center Dorian Pena. “We had to play perfect basketball to have a shot against them.”

For four quarters, Barako Bull was hit with waves and waves of Petron attacks. The Boosters were a deep team, one of the deepest in the league. The Energy were, as always, outnumbered. But for that one night, they refused to be outfought.

Pena took it upon himself to take on the biggest and baddest of the Boosters. His task was to guard June Mar Fajardo.

“He’s a pretty big guy. I guarded him in practice every day when I was with Petron before but it’s different when you’re in the game,” Pena said. “You have to keep him out of the paint. He doesn’t have to make a lot of moves. If he catches the ball deep you’re dead.”

Pena tried to save all of his energy for his battles with The Kraken. He jogged back on offense. He even stayed on the defensive side on the floor when his teammates were taking free throws. Pena knew he needed all that energy and more to keep Fajardo in check.

In one particular instance, perhaps Pena’s favorite moment of the night, he managed to push Fajardo away from his sweet spot. The Petron big man settled for a jumper that missed. Pena shouted like he nailed a game-winning shot.

“Nice D, Dorian,” said a fan sitting on the floor seats. Pena took some time to face the fan, smile, and say “Thank you.”

In the fourth quarter, Barako Bull made another run anchored on two triples from Mick Pennisi. However, he was thrown out of the game as he got his second technical foul after asking the referee to watch out for illegal screens from the Boosters.

Pennisi was the only other center in Barako Bull’s lineup. After he walked out of the game, Pena was on his own.

“That was big. He’s a three-point threat and what I don’t understand is he’s our captain. Why can’t he talk to the referee?” Pena stated. “I guess it’s better to punch people now than to talk to the referees,” he joked, referring to the flagrant fouls committed by Alaska’s Gabby Espinas and Ginebra’s Mark Caguioa.

“Listen, I don’t want to spend too much time thinking about calls that we get or we did not get. I’ve been in the league for a long time. I’ve accomplished a lot.  Right now I just prove that I can still play,” Pena explained.

“I’ve been there already. Your turn comes and goes. I’ll openly admit that I found some of the calls frustrating. When I was younger, I also got a lot of calls go my way but it’s just June Mar’s time now.”

“We came up short but at least we gave it our all out effort,” lamented Pena after the match. He said they needed the perfect game and they failed to get it. They missed 20 free throws in a game. If Pena made all of his free throws, the game would have went to overtime. But there’s no use to crying over what could have been.

They know they can compete against the best. One or two minor tweaks, maybe fewer trades, a little more time to play together, and a little more confidence in the system, in their team, and this could be a very good squad in the future.

Pena and the rest of his teammates walked out of the floor with their heads held high. They didn’t win but they Petron all they could handle. And some times, the effort is all that matters.