BLOODIED but unbowed.
Magnolia coach Chito Victolero would be the last one to tell his charges to raise the white flag in the Big Dance of the season-opening tourney against a seemingly invincible San Miguel Beer side.
“We’re down but we’re not out. We’ll try to find ways to stop this offensive juggernaut of San Miguel,” Victolero said after his team absorbed an 85-109 loss in Game 2 last Sunday. “We need to do a better job in finding an open shot. It’s our backs against the wall. It’s a must-win for us, so we’ll go hard.
“Our main problem is their transition offense, so we need to fix our transition defense. There’s a lot of transition threes, especially in the first quarter. That’s what we need to fix first,” he added.
The Hotshots seek to trim a 0-2 deficit when they take on the Beermen anew tonight in Game 3 of their best-of-7 finals showdown for the PBA Commissioner’s Cup crown at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The game is set at 7:30 p.m., with Magnolia raring to keep its title dreams alive against an equally determined SMB five out to push the Hotshots on the brink with another win after outlasting Magnolia 103-95 in the series opener.
Victolero said the Hotshots remain unfazed in the race-to-4 title battle.
“This is not the time to give up,” Victolero said. “We’ve been preparing for this in the last eight months ago. The only thing we need to do is rest and prepare.”
The likes of import Tyler Bey, Mark Barroca, Jio Jalalon, Ian Sangalang, Paul Lee, and Calvin Abueva, who got way from a ban after mocking the eye disability of Beermen tactician Jorge Gallent and figuring in a word war with Aida Tautuaa, the wife of SMB big man Mo, at the hallway of the Pasay-based venue.
Gallent said they are not looking ahead of themselves–even a possible sweep.
“We will just play how we played in Games 1 and 2 and if it still works then we will be happy,” Gallent said. “As of now, we’re thinking of Game 3 and nothing else.”
The Beermen will rely on reinforcement Bennie Boatwright, reigning seven-time MVP June Mar Fajardo, CJ Perez, Marcio Lassiter, Jericho Cruz, and Chris Ross.
With their backs against the ropes, a breakthrough triumph can change the complexion of the series, according to Victolero.
“But we need muna siguro manalo ng isa,” he said. “Then all the positive good take all the negative we’ll eliminate that and try to have a better solution for everything.”
