Winning has always been the main objective of Stephen Holt ever since, thus his excitement now that he’s set to vie for a maiden PBA championship.
The do-it-all guard is bound for his first Finals in just his second season in the league after Ginebra arranged a date with TNT for Season 49 Governors’ Cup supremacy, giving himself a chance as well to satiate his hunger for gold.
“It’s a tremendous feeling,” he reflected moments after the Kings’ ouster of San Miguel in Game 6 of the semis Sunday at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
“I mean, every step of my journey so far in the PBA, you know I tell you guys this all the time: I’m here to win,” added last season’s Rookie of the Year.
Things have gotten quite fast for Holt over the past few months. Just last May, he was helping build a new culture at Terrafirma when he aided the Dyip to a rare quarterfinal appearance in the Season 48 Philippine Cup.
Fast forward to now and he’s setting foot in the Big Dance, with the hope that he ends a personal championship drought that’s lasted for half a decade.
The last time Holt won a title was in 2019, when Astana ruled the Kazakhstan Basketball Championship by sweeping Barsy Atyrau in the best-of-3 finale.
What he actually remembers was the gold he won with Basketball Nymburk in the Czech Republic National Basketball League back in 2017, and it’s because the second-place finishes stuck more to the Saint Mary’s College product.
“It’s been a long time,” said Holt. “I’ve come in second place so many times in Europe, so I just kinda use it as motivation, especially here.”
That’s why he’s beyond ready to do whatever it may take for him to become a champion once again, even though he’s totally aware of how difficult it could get given that they will be taking on the defending conference champions.
Particularly in going up against the all-around Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, as he has become one of Coach Tim Cone’s main import defenders.
“They’re totally a different team compared to San Miguel. I don’t know if I will get the first crack at Rondae, or JB. But obviously it’s gonna be a mix between us, and again, it’s gonna be a total team effort,” Holt offered.
“He’s a great player, you can’t stop him, you just have to limit him, his touches, make every shot difficult, and gang-rebound. It’s gonna be a tough task.”
But as daunting as it is, Holt and the rest of the Barangay are nonetheless excited to square off against the Tropa in the best-of-7 series that starts Sunday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo, where another solid turnout is expected.
“I’m very hungry, super excited,” he said. “You know, [it is just] my second year in the PBA and I have already reached the Finals. So like I said, I have to take advantage of this with this group,and I feel like we’ll be very motivated.”
