Magnolia coach Chito Victolero tipped his hat to the reserves that gave San Miguel the fits late in the PBA Season 48 Commissioner’s Cup Finals opener.
The veteran mentor was proud of the effort his third group, led by Joseph Eriobu and Russel Escoto, showed as they helped pull the Hotshots to within just five after being down by as many as 20 points early in the fourth quarter.
“I would like to give credit to the third group, nagka-chance pa kami sa dulo,” he said moments after their 103-95 loss, Friday night at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Victolero admitted that his decision to bring in the bench guys was for his starters to get some rest for Game 2 on Sunday, with all of them still feeling the effects of their Semis Game 4 win over Phoenix Super LPG last Wednesday.
“We don’t want to make any excuses pero of course, we wanted to rest Paul also, ma-limit yung minutes niya si Mark and even other players,” he said.
(C) PBA Images
But the aforementioned tandem bannered an uprising, and the Hotshots would soon find themselves staring at only a five-point deficit, 100-95 with 1:13 left.
It was just unfortunate for them, though, that they couldn’t complete the rally even with some of the starting pieces back, and the Beermen would go on to escape behind crucial free throws by CJ Perez and June Mar Fajardo.
Still, it was a commendable effort from the seldom-used men. Eriobu, for one, went on to finish with seven points and two rebounds with a plus-minus of 11.
Escoto, on the other hand, made three points, three rebounds, an assist, and a steal as he also tried to defend opposing import Bennie Boatwright.
“We just wanted to feel na sana makapagpahinga, kasi ‘yun naman kailangan nila. And then nagkaroon kami ng chance. The third group did a very, very good job makabalik kami sa dulo,” the champion bench tactician said.
“I felt na baka sakali si Paul and T-Bey makapagbigay sa’min ng chance makalapit, which was why I used them. But again, it’s part of the game.”
Victolero isn’t dejected whatsoever as well despite falling short, with his sights now set on Game 2 on Sunday at the MOA Arena as well.
“We’re still positive because this is a series, this is not a do-or-die game,” he said “Konting adjustments, mga mali namin tingnan namin kung ano. We played very good defense in the second half. Titingnan namin yung pwedeng gawin.
“We’ll just have a good rest tonight and tomorrow we’ll watch the film, walk through with our adjustments, and laban uli sa Sunday,” he added.
