Ever since winning their fifth straight game last June 29, the Magnolia Hotshots have been struggling.
The Hotshots have suffered their third consecutive loss in the 2019 PBA Commissioner’s Cup in the hands of Carl Montgomery and the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 82-86, Wednesday evening.
For head coach Chito Victolero, that particular game where they won their fifth game in a row might be a factor.
That match — wherein the Hotshots conquered the Meralco Bolts — was held in Zamboanga City. For the third-year Hotshots mentor, some of his players haven’t been in top shape since then.
“We have a lot of, parang, sakit for the last seven days pagbalik namin ng Zamboanga.
“So almost all of my key players parang sobrang nagkasakit sila, nahihirapan kami,” said Victolero.
Victolero’s wards didn’t have any rest since coming back from Zamboanga, as they buckled down for work immediately for their games last Friday against Blackwater and last Sunday against Ginebra.
Still, the reigning Coach of the Year does not want to use it as an excuse. Victolero bared that the real problem in this skid of theirs that dropped their record to 5-5 has been their defense.
“Siguro may problema talaga yung depensa namin,” he said. “Siguro we need to check ourselves.”
But Victolero is looking at the positive side of things. He now looks forward to having a bit of break, as their next and last assignment in the eliminations will be exactly a week from now.
“Magandang pahinga ‘to sa amin,” he said. “Maganda nito, medyo malayo pa yung next game namin and we can siguro review everything, kung ano yung kulang, ano yung mali.”
Waiting for them, though, will be super import Terrence Jones and the top-seeded TNT KaTropa. But Victolero welcomes the challenge, as they aim to secure a spot in the quarterfinals.
“Wala tayong magagawa doon. Kailangan namin yun harapin eh. So ano naman yan eh, malay mo swertihin di ba. So hindi natin masabi. Sabi nga nila bilog ang bola eh,” Victolero said.
“We need to prepare hard for Talk ‘N Text. Nagawa ng NorthPort. So we stay positive on this.”
