After absorbing a 47-point defeat at the hands of the Magnolia Hotshots last January 10, things should not have gotten any worse for the struggling Kia Picanto. But it did four days later.
Things were going smoothly for Kia during the first 24 minutes of their game against the Alaska Aces. The score was close entering the second half, as the Picanto were able to keep pace with the Milkmen. Then disaster struck.
During the third frame, Kia only managed to score five points, going a horrid 2-for-13 from the field, 0-of-9 from downtown. The five markers they scored in the third frame were 10th all-time lowest output in a quarter — the fewest since January 7, 2015.
“Very obvious. We have a lot of weaknesses that we need to work on,” lamented Kia head coach Ricky Dandan.
“Nobody gets used to the beating that we got in three straight games.”
Kia were once again embarrassed, 102-65. This is their 16th straight loss, the third longest losing streak in the 43-year history of the PBA.
Still, Dandan sees a silver lining for his Picanto. He believes that they need to cling on to it in order to finally break through.
“We just have to move on and move forward,” shared Dandan, as Kia have lost by an average margin of 35.6 points in their last three contests. “If there was a silver lining, there were times that I saw them playing together but it was just overwhelming for them when we could not hit our shots and make stops.
“That is just very difficult.
“I told them that we have to embrace the fact that we have a lot of weaknesses and that we need to strengthen those weaknesses to win our first game here,” the grizzled veteran tactician pointed out.
But the mountain continues to get higher for Kia, as they will next face the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters on Saturday, January 20.
