Numerous factors have pushed a near-infallible Magnolia team ahead of the pack and back into title contention in the 2021-22 PBA Governors’ Cup, where, save for a couple of small hiccups here and there, the Hotshots steamrolled past most of the opposition in the first 12 games to own a league-best 10-2 record heading into their best-of-five semifinals matchup against the Meralco Bolts.
On Wednesday, however, Magnolia had to buckle down and prove that it possessed a couple of traits ever-present in championship teams — ones that will be necessary if it wants to culminate a bright start this tournament with the franchise’s first title in over three years: some good old-fashioned versatility, and the ability to immediately learn from earlier mistakes.
Coach Chito Victolero’s wards passed the early test, and although it remains to be seen if they can take two more battles to win the war against the Bolts, they will gladly take this one. After falling behind by as many as 17 in the second quarter, Magnolia cleaned up its act by expanding its approach and tying up loose ends that could have possibly put them on the wrong side of history; per PBA stats chief Fidel Mangonon III, 83 Game One winners have gone on to win the best-of-five series in the previous 121 instances. That’s nearly 69 percent of the cases, and surely some nice company to be in if you’re the Hotshots.
To get there, Magnolia had to combat some tried and tested concepts from Meralco.
The Bolts employed a hedge and recover scheme for the most part against Paul Lee and Mark Barroca, taking the ball out of their hands and forcing the offense to stall and meander from side to side early on:
Meralco also tried to make Magnolia import Mike Harris uncomfortable by forcing him to go baseline, where a second defender awaited – a ploy the Bolts would often trot out against imports operating down the block or against elite PBA post scorers:
Harris still got his points and scored eight in the first quarter on 3-for-8 shooting, but the rest of the Hotshots (3-for-13) were left grasping for answers after 12 minutes and stared at a 12-22 deficit.
Things got a tad worse for Magnolia when they tried to mix it up by rolling out a double big man lineup of Ian Sangalang and Rafi Reavis, a pairing the Hotshots kept on the floor with over a minute remaining in the first quarter up until the first four minutes of the second quarter. During that span, Meralco outscored them 13-4. (The duo only played 43 more seconds together later on.)
Sangalang remains a valuable paint presence on offense for Magnolia, but Meralco kept him in check in the post (one point, 0-for-5 on field goals) and frequently looked for him on the other end of the floor, where he continues to struggle with defending the perimeter. Reavis can still hold his own when guards and forwards size him up and is still the Hotshots’ best defender up front, but he wasn’t as airtight as he normally is and ceded some advantages:
Yet it didn’t feel like the Hotshots were truly in deep waters. They shot 33.3 percent from the field in the first two quarters and hit just 1-of-18 3s, but they only trailed by eight, 43-35, largely because Meralco could not completely take advantage and failed to get a good half from Tony Bishop (more on him later), who had as many points (two on 1-for-8 shooting) as turnovers during that span.
By the time Meralco realized the need to press on the hurt further, Magnolia had already found some solutions to turn the whole ship around.
Defensively, Magnolia was Magnolia – communicating well, turning turnovers into points (21-9 edge over Meralco), funneling the offense towards the help, and switching in select instances when necessary to force stagnation:
On offense, Magnolia diversified their attack to work around the hedge and the post doubles. Here’s one where the Hotshots tilted the defense by moving the action to the other side of the floor to get a triple via a flare screen for Lee…:
… and here are some sets involving Lee and Harris – the first two involving “exit” screens for Lee (one where he rejects the screen to avoid the hedge and get the finish, and another one leading to a tough finish at the rim for the import), and the third where Harris keeps his composure against a double team before pitching it to Adrian Wong for the triple:
Most importantly, Jio Jalalon happened.
Remember the Bolts’ hedge? It kind of felt like they had different rules for Jalalon, who provided the spark and torched Meralco by scoring nine of his 15 in the third after watching them either fight over screens or go under them in the third quarter. Help defense was there to dissuade the 5-foot-9 playmaker, but he essentially walked into some of these looks:
When Meralco started hedging Jalalon later on, he turned to his stable playmaking to create fissures; three of his six dimes came in the fourth, carefully greasing a Magnolia offense that had to keep it going against a Bolts unit that was always just a couple of baskets and stops away from reclaiming the lead:
Of course, we would be remiss not to mention the Hotshots’ tremendous defense on Bishop. The 32-year-old forward averaged an efficient 28.8 points on 49.5/44.4/75 shooting splits (58 TS% or True Shooting Percentage) in the first 12 games, but he was limited to a conference-low 10 points on a dismal 5-for-19 clip while having more turnovers (five) than assists (three) in 40 minutes of play.
Magnolia threw everything at Bishop – sent help on his drives, threw digs at his post-ups, hedged him in the pick and roll, trapped him in the baseline, and closed out well on every shot possible. Calvin Abueva, who possesses the defensive chops to bother the import, did a pretty great job as the primary defender:
Still, you’d be encouraged if you’re Meralco. There are serious questions about their ability to hold big leads, yes — all five of their losses, including this one, have come after blowing a lead bigger than 15 points — but they were a couple of makeable shots away from regaining control of the game in the fourth:
Right now, though, the onus is on the Bolts to prove that they can shake Magnolia and keep their own composure at the same time. And against a Hotshots team that can lay down the pain from anywhere while immediately being able to close windows of opportunity before they can be exploited any further, that’s easier said than done.
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