Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
It’s all been too familiar for Phoenix this late into the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
As teams jockey up for position for the quarterfinals, the Fuel Masters got themselves into a miserable groove losing four straight games in the most disappointing of fashions.
Phoenix is currently in ninth and could still get a quarterfinals spot but with the way the team is going it would be hard for the Fuel Masters to make the cut if they keep floundering in the endgame.
The Fuel Masters have squandered double-digit leads in three of their last four games.
“We can’t execute,” said Phoenix head coach Louie Alas after their 108-106 loss to league-leading Rain or Shine Saturday at Mall of Asia Arena.
“I told my coaches earlier that I don’t believe in moral victories anymore, we need to finish games well,” said Alas in Filipino. “I don’t feel any pressure from the management but finishing games well cannot be taught. The only way we will learn is if we can win in the end-game.”
Phoenix’s loss to the Hotshots was the latest episode of their all too familiar collapse after they squandered a 19-point lead, 29-10, in the first quarter.
The Fuel Masters held the lead for more than 41 minutes right before James Yap spearheaded a 14-2 Rain or Shine run as the Elasto Painters wound up with a 104-98 at the 4:11 mark of the fourth quarter.
Rain or Shine’s late-game run hit Phoenix like a haymaker as the Fuel Masters staggered to get back into the game.
“We have to find ways because we don’t have discipline in the endgame,” said Alas. “We will lead by double figures then we would be carried away.”