Cafe France thinks it needs to play a “perfect game” to forge a do-or-die match with Hapee in the PBA D-League Foundation Cup championship series at Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.
“Granting that we were unlucky in our offense [in Game 1], but we also played bad defense,” Cafe France coach Egay Macaraya said after his Bakers bowed to the Fresh Fighters, 83-72, in the opener of their best-of-three series last Thursday.
“We already know that we have a very good opponent. It’s all about adjustment. We have to play a perfect game.”
Game 2 is set at 3 p.m. on Monday at the Pasig venue.
Although the Bakers are first-time finalists, Macaraya did not point to Finals jitters as the reason for their paltry 23-of-81 field-goal shooting.
“That’s not a factor,” said Macaraya. “Everybody wants to win a championship. We were outhustled. It was all mental.”
Cafe France came out fighting for three quarters, but failed to arrest Hapee’s fourth-quarter offensive behind Chris Newsome, Troy Rosario, Baser Amer and Scottie Thompson.
The shots wouldn’t fall, too, for the Bakers’ top guards as Eloy Poligrates (3-of-20 shooting clip) and Maverick Ahanmisi (3-of-10) both struggled from the field.
Even in bench scoring, the Fresh Fighters overpowered the Bakers, 38-18.
“It showed we lacked effort, especially from our bench,” said Macaraya.
Jam Cortez led the Bakers with 15 points, while Samboy de Leon and Michael Miranda finished with 11 points each.
“Hopefully we can bounce back,” said Macaraya. “We need more team effort.”