Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Alex Mallari and Ryan Araña are no strangers to winning.
Araña is a two-time champion, and his last title was with San Miguel in the 2016 Philippine Cup.
Mallari, meanwhile, won four straight championships with the Purefoods franchise as a vital part of the San Mig Coffee Mixers’ Grand Slam team.
But that was before as both are now removed from their championship glories and are left to lead a rebuilding Mahindra side.
“The difference is we have a bunch of young guys, and at Star we have a bunch of older guys that could dig us out of the hole,” said Mallari on Sunday at Mall of Asia Arena. “Now it would take a real team effort.”
“At Star we had three, four guys who could do it themselves.”
Mahindra is now a 0-3 after losing to Phoenix, 114-104, in a game where they trailed by as much as 30 and with Mallari standing out as the team’s highest scorer with 19.
As for Araña, the Floodbuster just needs to be patient and perform as a cohesive unit if they want to put their losing behind.
“Patience lang and hoping pa rin kami na makuha ang first win eventually (we just have to be patient and we’re still hoping we can get our first win eventually),” said Arana, who had 11 points in the loss.
“Yung chemistry ng team namin, yun ang pinakamalaking adjustment and feeling ko yung role ng bawat isa kailangan i-accept (I think the team chemistry is the biggest adjustment we need to have, and each player should accept their role).”