Phoenix Fuel Masters. PBA IMAGES
As Phoenix continues to rack up wins, coach Eric Gonzales also keeps on looking for that consistency that has been absent from the Accelerators this conference.
And even the players acknowledge that. Ed Daquioag said that most of their those miscues can be blamed to their complacency with their record still untarnished.
“Ang problema namin dahil iniisip namin na 3-0 kami at lahat ng laban namin tambak, na-underestimate yung kalaban. Yun ang kailangang hindi mangyari sa mga susunod namin na mga games,” he said.
That overconfidence almost cost Phoenix the game against Blustar Detergent, as the Accelerators let the Dragons to hang on before they swiped the game away, 97-94, on Thursday.
Daquioag urged his team to learn from this close call.
“Bawal kami maging complacent sa mga next games,” he said. “Kinausap din kami ni coach noong halftime na hindi pwede yung ganito. Ang pinaghahandaan namin is yung itaas para makapasok sa 1 and 2. Kung matibay ang makakalaban namin, mahihirapan talaga kami kaya kailangan talaga naming i-adjust yun.”
Now it’s up to the players to get their acts together after Gonzales challenged them to regroup ahead of a tougher grind in the 2016 PBA D-League Foundation Cup.
“Sabi lang nila coach na tingnan namin ang sarili namin. Sana yung three-day break, isipin ng bawat isa
yung dapat naming role para mai-ayos yung pagiging complacent namin,” he said.
“Hindi kami dapat makuntento. Ibang storya every game. Kailangan parating idiin namin. Every game kailangan all-out.”