Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net
Magnolia coach Chito Victolero remains unfazed despite the 111-87 clobbering the Hotshots absorbed in Game 3 of the 2018 PBA Philippine Cup Finals on Sunday.
“We won’t stop until we find a way to win in this series,” he vowed.
Victolero, though, knows it’s going to need more than just words if the Magnolia wants to remain a threat to the Beermen, who are raring to pull away in the best-of-seven series.
“I think we need to find ways how to match up or surpass the energy of the second group of San Miguel. We had a hard time matching up with the energy of (Brian) Heruela and other guys coming from the bench,” he said.
The Beermen threw a different problem at the Hotshots this time, with the bench stepping up enough that Fajardo could afford to rest in the fourth quarter. Guys like Brian Heruela, Gabby Espinas, and Matt Ganuelas-Rosser accounted for the team’s 33 bench points.
“I think we did a pretty good job on defending June Mar (Fajardo) and Arwind (Santos) tonight, but the problem is the other guys stepping up. I think that’s what we need to think about now.”
Though Magnolia also drew 40 points from its reserves, it was its starters who failed to match up as key guys, especially Ian Sangalang who just contributed six points and five rebounds, found themselves limited in the tiff.
“We need to address that. We cannot afford to relax even a single minute or a single second against San Miguel because on that one minute, two minutes that we have let-ups, that’s where they get their big leads,” he said. “We need to find ways how to play 48 minutes of consistent basketball.”
Magnolia will be fighting for its life on Game 4, scheduled on Wednesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
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