Hotshots peaking at right time, starting with Simon
Peter June Simon. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
If there’s one thing going the way of Star, it’s that coach Tim Cone can say that his players are peaking at the right time.
That has been on display as the Hotshots defied a twice-to-beat disadvantage and outlasted GlobalPort in the quarterfinals of the 2015 PBA Governors’ Cup to enter the semifinals on Sunday.
And one of those key guys in Cone’s arsenal was Peter June Simon, who went off in the second quarter to pour in all but two of his 14 points to help Star build an early lead.
“Mahirap i-compare yung last runs namin, pero ngayon, masasabi kong sabay-sabay kami nagpi-peak. Lahat motivated,” said Simon
(It’s hard to compare this to our last runs but right now, we’re peaking all at the same time. We’re all motivated.)
Though the Hotshots went on to hammer the Batang Pier in Game 1 by 53 points, Simon
knew that despite A motivated GlobalPort squad will be ready to chuck away the deficit and make the game as competitive as possible despite Star’s early 21-point edge.
“Every series, iba-iba yun. Di ibig sabihin na nanalo kami ng tambak nung Game 1, ganun din ang mangyayari. Talagang babalik at babalik talaga sila,” he said.
(Every series is different. Just because we won by a rout in game 1, it will also happenin in game 2. They will always try to comeback.)
And that was what happened, as the Batang Pier clawed their way back inbefore a big push from the Hotshots put the game away late in the fourth.
Simon only had nice things to say about the young GlobalPort squad led by Terrence Romeo and Stanley Pringle. But he believes that the quarterfinal win proves that it was still their time over the young guns.
“Talent-wise, napakagaling nila. Sinasabi lang namin sa sarili namin na time pa rin namin to. Darating din ang time nila dahil sobrang galing talaga nila,” he said.
(Talent-wise, they are very good. We just told ourselves that it’s still our time and they their time will come eventually because they are good.)
Moving forward, Simon is hoping that Star can sustain its feistiness and be ready for Alaska in the semifinals in hopes of defending its Governors’ Cup title.
“Napakaimportante ng title defense kasi parang sinabi sa amin ni coach na we own this conference and hopefully, kung makapasok kami ulit sa Finals, it will be our fourth straight sa Governors’ Cup,” he said.
“Hopefully ngayon sa semis, ganun pa rin ang focus at hunger namin. Ipakita namin na gusto pa rin namin manalo.”
(To defend the title is important. Coach told us that we own this conference and hopefully, if we get to the finals, it will be our fourth straight in the governors’ cup. Hopefully in the semis, we still have that same focus and hunger. We want to show that we want to win.) CFC
