Personnel changes make Hotshots ready for now and the future

A quick look at Magnolia’s roster for the upcoming PBA season and one could surmise that the Hotshots are simply loading up on fresh talent to finally get over the hump.

But that’s just a side to the grand plan, according to head coach Chito Victolero, who bared that the other goal is to future-proof the Hotshots’ roster for the coming years as well.

Magnolia recently let go of playmaker Jio Jalalon for high-leaping forward Zavier Lucero. The club then selected crafty Adamson guard and Southeast Asian Games champion Jerom Lastimosa and then San Beda standout Peter Alfaro during the Rookie Draft.

“We’re trying to bring in younger guys so they can experience the attitude, the character, the work ethic of Mark Barroca, Rafi Reavis and Ian (Sangalang),” Victolero told the Inquirer with a mix of Filipino.

Barroca is still the squad’s top point guard at 38 years old, while Reavis, the club’s skipper and Victolero’s former teammate, is now 47.

“Mark is still playing at a high level. But we don’t like the idea of making (personnel) moves only when [those players] are done playing,” he added. “That’s also the idea with Rafi. We know how good of a role player he is. Defensively, he’s good, too, and that’s what we want Zavier to pick up along with the basketball IQ and the ability to defend imports and big local players.”

Victolero, the architect behind Magnolia’s 2018 Governors’ Cup conquest, quashed the perception that he is panicking after falling short multiple times. After that championship, the franchise has settled for a bridesmaid finish three times.

“Every year has been win now,” he said. “Actually, ever since I took over the franchise (in 2016), that has been the case. It’s been hard. Teams are becoming more and more talented but that remains the goal.”

If anything, Victolero said that those conferences where they fell short of a title also meant that his charges have been competitive.

“Those conferences mean that we’ve put ourselves in a position to win,” he pointed out.

“Now we have a good import with us, I just hope that he could adjust (with the PBA style) quickly,” he said of Glenn Robinson III, an NBA veteran who is also the son of ’90s star and of the same name.

Victolero said that his zest has been refreshed by Meralco, a club that has repeatedly sputtered in many championship duels before finally winning a title in the last Philippine Cup, and a squad built over time just like the Hotshots. INQ