Glen Rice, Jr. did all that he could for the TNT Katropa on Wednesday night against a hot-shooting Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in their 2017 Governor’s Cup quarterfinal series. But sadly, his efforts and those of his teammates all went down the drain.
The Texters had been on the cusp of completing a comeback from as much as 20 points down. However, the breaks of the game veered away from their side, allowing the Elasto Painters to throttle their twice-to-beat incentive.
And for the 26-year-old American, he believes that the Katropa did not play the way they should have for the entirety of the match, even if they were able to build the overwhelming scoring rally.
“We didn’t play the way we need to play for the whole 48 minutes. You can see, we played the way we’re supposed to for six minutes,” said Rice, Jr. after their 102-106 loss at the Mall of Asia Arena, where he had 19 points and 10 rebounds. “The game’s going to be a toss-up if you’re not gonna play the whole game, instead of an easy win or a sure win or just to be even in the game.
“We were spending a lot of energy just coming back. We gassed out in order to win.”
Asked if the pressure is starting to pile up on their side heading into the rubber match this Friday, the second-generation cager replied in the negative, saying he remains confident that the Katropa are not about to collapse.
“No pressure,” said the second-ranked reinforcement in the Best Import race with averages of 32.88 points and 11.25 rebounds. “We’re still in the same position that we were in today. We gotta win one game. I think we’re fine. Coaches have to adjust a little bit but I think we’re fine… We just need more effort.
“We know we didn’t have a little more effort the whole game.”
