Magnolia remains positive
Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok coach Chito Victolero is certain that the loss to the San Miguel Beermen in the PBA Philippine Cup Finals will only make them a better team.
The Hotshots suffered one of the biggest meltdowns in the history of the PBA Finals, blowing a 23-point third quarter lead before falling in double overtime, 108-99, that gave the Beermen their fourth straight title in the season-opening conference Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
But despite a 4-1 defeat in the bestof-seven series, Victolero expressed confidence that the Hotshots will come back stronger – beginning with the Commissioner’s Cup where they will parade Vernon Macklin as import.
“It was a good experience for our team, sayang nga lang hindi namin nakuha or nakamit yung championship na inaasam namin,” said Victolero moments after his team lost to SMB.
“Pero para sa akin magandang experience ito para sa team namin. Actually rebuilding stage pa kami pero to be able to play in the finals against a very strong team maganda na for us.”
“Kaya positive ako na malaki ang maitutulong nito para sa team namin, and hopefully magkaroon pa kami ng maraming opportunities na makapasok sa finals hanggang makuha namin yung title,” added Victolero.
Paul Lee echoed Victolero’s sentiments, saying the experience will be beneficial in the Hotshots’ bid to win their first title since the 2014 Grand Slam season.
“Lahat naman dumadaan sa ganitong masakit na experience eh… maski ang SMB dumaan sa ganito noong bago sila naging champion. So kami, yun din ang nasa isip namin,” said Lee.
“Sabi nga ni coach Chito, kailangan naming dumaan – as a team – sa ganitong klaseng experience, mas magiging buo yung samahan ng team, ng mga players kung sama-sama kami,” added Lee.
If there is one player that truly benefitted in the series and hopes to play better consistently in the next two conferences and in the coming years is Magnolia center Ian Sangalang.
“May mga natutuhan naman ako sa match up namin ni June Mar, and hopefully madala ko yun sa mga susunod na campaign ng team. Sana next time mas maganda yung maipakita namin,” said Sangalang.
Meanwhile, Batang Gilas endured shooting struggles in a 76-60 loss to New Zealand yesterday and settle for a fourth place finish in the FIBA Asia U-16 Championship at the Foshan Lingnan Mingzhu Gymnasium in Foshan, China.
Despite the loss, Batang Gilas, which gave host China a big scare in a 60-54 semifinal loss Saturday, is assured of playing in this year’s FIBA U-17 Basketball World Cup in Argentina for finishing in the top four. (With a report from Jerome Lagunzad)