Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
GlobalPort coach Pido Jarencio took full responsibility for his team’s loss to Magnolia on Tuesday night in a game where the Batang Pier blew an early 20-point lead.
The Batang Pier led 26-6 late in the first quarter and were still ahead by 11 at the half before the Hotshots came all the way back behind old timers Mark Barroca and Marc Pingris in the third quarter.
“No sour graping, no pinpointing. Perhaps, I wasn’t able to prepare my team well,” Jarencio said in Filipino. “It’s all my fault. It was all me.”
Magnolia outscored GlobalPort, 27-14, in the pivotal third period en route to an 86-79 win to secure its spot in the semifinals.
Despite the loss that sent GlobalPort out of contention, Jarencio said he liked the fact that his players fought until the final buzzer.
“At least we fought and that’s all I wanted which is to see them fight. We fell short but there will come a time that we’ll have a happy ending,” he said. “As long as the players keep working hard, continue to listen and do what they’re told, we’ll continue to improve.”
The Batang Pier dropped their last two games just when their star guard Terrence Romeo returned from a knee injury.
Romeo hasn’t been himself since coming back and he also took the blame for failing to show up.
“We weren’t able to make shots, especially myself. I’m still far from the player I used to be. I don’t have my timing and I really need to catchup on a lot of things,” he said.
The 25-year-old Romeo, who is one of the most lethal scorers in the league today, scored just 14 points on 6-of-18 shooting from the field in close to 30 minutes of action.