Jio Jalalon was still all smiles even after Magnolia fell short in stopping Bay Area as the top teams of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup squared off Saturday night.
The do-it-all guard was proud of the effort his Hotshots displayed, where they nearly took down the guest team with a spirited fourth-quarter rally until Myles Powell and Co. came through with timely hits to avert the upset.
“We’re good,” the six-year pro told reporters moments after coming out of the team’s dugout at the Philsports Arena. “Lesson learned sa amin ito.
“Ito talaga yung pinaghandaan namin kasi nga dikit-dikit din yung laro namin. Mahirap din, hirap din sa sitwasyon namin. Pero we’re good, no excuses.”
Jalalon led the locals with 19 points, 11 of which he made in the final period as he joined hands with Nick Rakocevic for the comeback attempt that saw Magnolia get to within just three, 82-79, from 17 down.
“‘Yung mindset ko kailangan mabago lang yung takbo ng game so ginawa ko lang yung best ko. Hustle, defense, lahat,” said the Arellano product, the one responsible for cutting the gap that narrow with a lay-up.
“‘Yun naman ‘yung bread and butter namin, ‘yung defense namin. Pag dume-depensa kami makakahabol at makakahabol kami,” he added.
An added push for Jalalon was going up against a super scorer like Powell plus Bay Area’s surplus of big guards led by Glenn Yang.
“Siyempre, ibang lahi. Siyempre mamo-motivate mo rin ‘yung sarili mo kasi ang lalaki e, lalo na si Yang. Bihira ka lang makakatagpo ng ganung point guard na malaki na 6’2″, 6’3″,” said the former Gilas Pilipinas playmaker.
But it was those two who made life hard for Magnolia, providing answers to the latter’s attempts on the way to the six-point win — their fourth straight.
Powell went on to finish with 32 points on 10-of-24 shooting from the floor, alongside 11 rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
“Import talaga. Grabe,” he said of Powell. “Kahit nga si Kuya Mark e, napapaisip ako kahit andun din ako sa loob. Siyempre di naman natin maaano yan kasi magaling talaga. So kahit ma-limit mo lang kahit 30 pababa, we’re good na.
“Yun naman talaga yung game niya e. Sa dulo lang talaga kailangan maging smart, lahat,, disciplined. Kailangan matutunan pa namin ‘yan.”
Magnolia is now carrying an 8-2 record and Jalalon hopes that they could take care of business in taking on Meralco and Rain or Shine as the Hotshots aim to finish the elimination round in one of the top two spots.
“‘Yung game na ‘yun, ‘yung mindset namin pang-playoffs na. Tingnan natin ‘yung last two games namin, kailangan makuha namin,” he said.
“We’re good,” added Jalalon. “Okay pa naman. Basta ‘di lang lalabas sa sistema ni Coach, mananalo’t mananalo kami.”
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The second game of each PBA gameday is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
