Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net
TNT coach Nash Racela refused to pin the blame on fatigue which led to his team’s humiliating 121-94 Game 1 defeat at the hands of Ginebra to start their 2017 PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals series on Monday.
“We shouldn’t be entertaining those thoughts at this point. That’s how I always felt about fatigue,” he said.
It took the KaTropa two hard-fought games to shake off Rain or Shine in the quarterfinals while in comparison, the Gin Kings only needed one game to shut down San Miguel’s Grand Slam aspirations.
Racela attributed his team’s loss to the lack of preparation for Ginebra.
“The difference is their last game was on Wednesday and our last game was Friday, so it was really hard to prepare for this game. We had little window to rest and I think we had two practices before the game. I think that was crucial,” he said.
“We were outplayed, we were outcoached, and we were outhustled.”
Racela hopes the blowout loss will serve as a wakeup call for his team to show up in Game 2 which is slated on Wednesday in Batangas City.
“We have a lot of things to work on and hopefully, it would correct everything on the other day. If you’re not better come Wednesday, we’ll lose two straight. It’s that simple,” he said.