Mark Barroca delivering in the clutch on Wednesday was proof that Magnolia’s shift in its approach for the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup is working.
The Hotshots aim to utilize as many pieces as they can to give themselves enough legs to close games, and that held true as shown by their lead guard.
Just like the old times, the 38-year-old scored the team’s last four points as the crew came back from as much as 14 down to beat San Miguel in overtime and take sole leadership of the standings with a pristine 3-0 record.
“Sabi nga namin ni Paul, nagusap kami, bago ‘yung sistema namin. Ngayon mabilis na kami, so nasa amin na ni Paul yan kung paano ‘yung minuto namin,” he said moments after their 98-95 win at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
“Kaya sabi nga ni Coach, kailangan time management talaga, kailangan rotate ng maraming tao. Ang nangyayari, maganda, kasi lahat nakakapaglaro. Malalim ‘yung bench na ginagamit ni Coach. Positive para sa amin.”
Everybody indeed sniffed the court against the Beermen as Coach Chito Victolero used all of his 15 players as part of their new philosophy.
And in this renewed system of theirs, the young guns have been able to spread their wings. Zavier Lucero and Jerom Lastimosa actually led the way for Magnolia in taking down SMB with 24 and 21 points, respectively.
(C) PBA Images
That’s much, of course, to the delight of their ‘Kuya Mark,’ who has zero doubt with the capabilities of their youth brigade, especially those two.
“Kailangan namin yung mga young guns – si Zav, si Jerom. Malaking tulong sa amin ‘yun kasi ‘yung experience nila sa paglalaro, nandiyan na rin,” the 14-year vet said.
“Parang beterano na rin sila. Rookie lang sila pero iba na yung mindset nila, kasi iba na ‘yung generation ng mga bata ngayon.”
But come winning time, it was Barroca who delivered, nailing long jumpers in back-to-back fashion to lift his side from a 94-95 deficit with 1:13 left to play.
For the Grand Slam winner, coming through in the endgame the way he did was simply his way of leading by example, particularly to the younger ones.
“Kami ni Paul, kahit matanda na, may edad na kami, nina Calvin, binibigay pa rin namin ‘yung best namin as long as naglalaro kami as one of the leaders,” said Barroca, who finished with seven points and seven assists.
“‘Yun ‘yung ginagawa ni Coach na sistema so buy-in lang kami, kasi may goal kami.”
#WATCH: Chris Ross believes Mark Barroca deserves more credit — and Barroca backed it up with a clutch performance against San Miguel
@justinebacnis /Tiebreaker Times#PBA2025 pic.twitter.com/gvp3csihIy
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) April 16, 2025
