Choco Mucho head coach Dante Alinsunurin addressed the ‘sagip kapamilya’ accusations following their stunning straight-set loss to sister team and defending champion Creamline on Thursday night.
“Syempre hindi naman pwedeng mangyari yung ganun na magbigayan kasi hindi maganda para sa isang team na magbigayan. Sakin kasi ang importante, lumalaban kami,” said Alinsunurin.
The Flying Titans were the hottest team in the league prior to the loss, winning four consecutive games with a league-best 8-1 record, and were a win away from securing a spot in the semifinals.
On the other hand, the Cool Smashers were a bit shaky leading up to the match after fumbling a 1-2 advantage over Petro Gazz en route to a five-set loss before eventually scoring a bounce-back victory over also-ran Nxled.
During the highly-anticipated rivalry game played in front of 17,396 fans at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, Sisi Rondina paced Choco Mucho with 17 points, all of which came from attacks, to go along with eight excellent receptions in the loss.
No other player breached the double-digit mark for the Flying TItans with Isa Molde and Royse Tubino contributing nine and seven points, respectively.
Choco Mucho will face off against also-ran Farm Fresh on April 23 while Creamline will go up against a formidable foe in PLDT on April 25.
The Flying Titans also did not have Kat Tolentino due to an auditory condition.
Alinsunurin said that the Cool Smashers were the better team tonight and outsmarted the Flying Titans in the 88-minute contest.
Creamline dominated the blocking department 14-5 while also scoring 45 points in attacks, compared to Choco Mucho’s 32.
“Sakin, nakita niyo naman yung naging performance namin. Talagang na-outsmart kami ng Creamline ngayon, pero sabi ko nga dumadating talaga yung time na medyo basa yung laro namin,” said Alinsunurin.
“Dumating lang talaga sa sitwasyon na medyo lamang na lamang sila ngayong araw na ‘to.”
