Even before Meralco and San Miguel started their PBA Philippine Cup finals series, the Meralco Bolts players were already well-aware of the fact that it has to bring their best, especially with stopping June Mar Fajardo.
Fajardo still remained a force to reckon with under the paint, but the Bolts were making it hard and exhausting for the PBA All-Time Most Valuable Player (MVP). Cliff Hodge, one of the veterans for Meralco, deflected the credit retired PBA bruiser Reynel Hugnatan, who is now part of their coaching staff tasked to guide the big men including him.
Though he already had three championships as a player under his belt, Hugnatan never won it all with Meralco, a team he spent 12 years on. He had come close, though, as they were runners-up during their four previous finals appearances, all of which wound up as defeats at the hands of Barangay Ginebra.
Still, as an assistant coach, he had an imprint on their title run, being among the first in practices before sharing the wisdom he gained from a long career with his teammates-turned-mentees.
"'Papa Rey,' he set that example to all the Meralco people," said Finals MVP Chris Newsome. "Even today, he is the first in the gym."
"He’s huge. He has battled a lot of the bigs right now and he’s done a good job of playing against a lot of these guys," Hodge told GMA News Online.
With the 6-foot-4 Hugnatan around, Hodge alongside other bigs in Raymond Almazan, Brandon Bates, and Norbert Torres have been making life harder for Fajardo.
Meralco outrebounded San Miguel in all but one game in the series so far as the Bolts stunned the San Miguel Beermen in Game 6 of the 2024 PBA Philippine Cup Finals, 80-78, to take the crown.
"Yeah, he’s huge and he’s been a great coach, he has helped these younger guys, even me, Bates, and Raymond to stay focused and follow the game plan."
Hodge also relishes the chance to learn from Hugnatan, who has been around ever since he joined the franchise in 2012 until the latter called it a career last year after suiting up for Meralco from 2011 to 2023.
From being a teammate to a coach, Hodge is just thankful to have Hugnatan around.
"Yeah, we played like, maybe, eight years together. It was a transition for him, obviously. We were teammates for a long time and I’m glad that he’s still around because he’s a great basketball player," the 6-foot-4 Hodge added.
And if there's one thing he likes to further develop under the guidance of Hugnatan, Hodge said it's his post moves.
"I’m trying to learn his post moves. I know his post moves were crazy so if I can learn a few of those and get a little bit offensive-minded then maybe I can help in that department," he said.
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