PBA FINALS Hard work pays off for Victolero, Hotshots Magnolia savors 1st title in post-Cone era after arduous process

No one was able to wipe the smile off Chito Victolero’s face Wednesday night as he became the unlikeliest person to steer Magnolia back to the PBA winner’s circle in the post-Tim Cone era.

Victolero felt like a kid who got a Christmas Day present following the Hotshots’ 102-86 victory over the Alaska Aces that gave them the PBA Governors’ Cup crown at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.

“I don’t know the feeling, I just jumped for joy,” Victolero said in Filipino of the experience being the 14th former player to win a PBA championship as a coach.

The Purefoods franchise bagged its first title since completing the league’s fourth Grand Slam in 2014 under Cone, a feat that felt like ages ago for many.

Cone’s transfer for Barangay Ginebra San Miguel a year after the trifecta began a slight downturn for the once-proud squad. It also became the launching pad for the Hotshots management to tap Victolero after going 12-24 in 2016.

Little was expected from Victolero, who had little success in his previous stop as coach of alma mater Mapua in the NCAA and Kia in his initial foray into PBA coaching. But the former player who won a title in the nowdefunct MBA quickly accepted the challenge of reviving the team.

He combined holdovers from the last title run composed of Mark Barroca, Marc Pingris, Ian Sangalang, Rafi Reavis, Justin Melton and PJ Simon with new acquisitions Paul Lee in a trade for James Yap and Jio Jalalon from the draft before the 2016-17 season. The Hotshots reached the semifinals of all three conferences that year, but fell short to Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in the Philippine Cup, San Miguel Beer in the Commissioner’s Cup and Meralco in the Governors’ Cup.

Postseason struggles continued this season as Victolero’s breakthrough finals appearance in the Philippine Cup ended with a 4-1 loss to the Beermen before missing the semis for the first time when they were knocked by the Aces in the Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals.

All shortcomings seemed like detours in Magnolia’s date with destiny.

“We didn’t do this overnight,” Victolero said. “It all started last season when we made those semifinal appearances but couldn’t get over the hump, even this year when we lost in the finals. The lessons that we learned from those failures helped us get to this point.”