Barroca admits Hotshots lack finishing kick

Mark Barroca tries to swat Chris Newsome’s shot. PBA IMAGES

Almost but not quite. That was the theme of Mark Barroca’s night on Wednesday.

Just like Star, which fell to Meralco, 90-86, to start the 2016 PBA Commissioner’s Cup on Wednesday, the shifty playmaker also failed to complete what could have been his first career triple-double.

He fell one rebound and assist short, only finishing with 11 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists.

But notching the statistical achievement was the least of Barroca’s concerns.

“Nadismaya ako kasi na-short lang kami,” he said. “Nandoon na kami, nakagawa na ng run, tapos sa second half, nag-relax kami, nawala yung defense namin at nalamangan nila kami. Di na kami nakabalik. Wala kaming diin.”

(I was dismayed because we fell short. We were already there. We made a run. But in the second half, we relaxed and we stopped playing defense so that why they were able to go ahead. We couldn’t recover. We lacked the finishing kick.)

Barroca said he was urged by coach Jason Webb to take a more dominant role for the struggling Hotshots, especially when he’s on the floor.

“Yun ang nire-reach out sa akin ni coach, na maging leader kasi ako na yung susunod kila James (Yap). Dapat mag-step up na ako sa leadership,” he said. “Sa akin, basta’t nandoon yung leadership ko sa loob. Matured na ako para sa team namin at ilalabas ko lang yung voice ko.”

(That’s what coach has been reaching out to me for. That I be a leader because I’m next to the guys like James. I should step up in leadership. For me, as long as my leadership is inside the court. I’m matured enough for our team so I will use my voice.)

Despite the dismal debut, Barroca is holding out hope that Star could figure out what works for the team with still a long road ahead.

“First game pa lang, marami pang games. Yung defense namin na inayos nung offseason, nagkakabunga na dahil low scoring yung game. Next game, titignan namin kung ano pa yung pwede namin iimprove,” he said. “Makakapag-adjust pa kami. Stay together lang.”

(That was just the first game. There’s still a lot of games. Our defense that we fixed in the off season bore fruit because it was a low scoring game. Next game, we will see what we can still improve on. We will adjust. We just have to stay together.)

Star returns to the court on Saturday against Rain or Shine at Philsports Arena.