Kia matches futility record in Ricky Dandan's coaching debut

MANILA, Philippines—For two quarters, Ricky Dandan's head coaching debut in the PBA was going as well as it possibly could.

In his first game since taking over the post vacated by Chris Gavina, Dandan's Kia Picanto stood toe to toe with the Magnolia Hotshots, even briefly leading by seven points early on. They clung to a 49-47 lead at halftime, and were limiting an explosive Magnolia team to only 37.8% shooting from the field.


Unfortunately for Dandan and Kia, the wheels came off in the third quarter. After playing so well in the first half, they were limited to only 11 points in the third quarter and, to make matters worse, they gave up a whopping 34 points to Magnolia.

It turned out to be a disastrous debut for Dandan, as Magnolia absolutely clobbered Kia, 124-77.

"I don't know what happened," Dandan said after a long coaches' meeting in the wake of the loss. "I can't explain it. I have to review tape, watch the third quarter and see what exactly happened."

"But from my recollection, we played according to plan in the first two quarters, only to suddenly play differently in the third," he added.

Photo: TiebreakerTimes
Author: Camille B. Naredo, ABS-CBN News
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