Ricardo Ratliffe vows to return better next season to help Star Hotshots in championship chase
A QUARTERFINALS in his first stint, a semifinals in his return this season. What should be the next for? “No less than a championship,” Mr. Ratliffe told BusinessWorld.
The hardworking reinforcement, a cinch to win the Best Import award, carried the Star Hotshots to the Final Four, before Mr. Ratliffe and his team bowed to the mighty San Miguel Beermen who were pushed to the limit.
Mr. Ratliffe assured that he’ll be back next season and hopes to carry the Hotshots to the finals.
“I’ll be back next year, but it will be late again. That’s the goal — to be in the finals and win the championship. We’ve got the personnel, we’ve got the coaching staff. We just got to mesh together,” Mr. Ratliffe told BusinessWorld.
For Mr. Ratliffe, there were a lot of lessons learned from their previous series’ loss to San Miguel Beer.
“We still got a new team, a young team. Next year, those guys are mold together,” he added. “We’re growing and we’re still trying to learn each other. They have the Governors’ Cup coking then the All- Filipino and by the time I get back, things will be alright and everybody will be meshed together.
Star coach Chito Victolero said they’ll be waiting for Mr. Ratliffe’s return.
The import had improved by leaps and bounds and made the Hotshots an instant title contender. Behind Mr. Ratliffe, Star was able to push San Miguel, the reigning three- time Philippine Cup champion, on the brink of defeat in Game 2 and 3 of their best- of- five semis series.
“Just like last conference, we need to experience this kind of situation, this kind of game, see how San Miguel showed its maturity in this kind of game. We need to learn to bounce back coming from a loss, how we can settle down during crunch time. Successful teams go thru this process,” said Mr. Victolero.