Not wanting a repeat of last year’s series, the Magnolia Hotshots played with aggressiveness and passion during Game Two of the 2019 PBA Philippine Cup Finals.
But as they say, too much of anything can lead to bad things.
“We gave up a lot of free throws. That’s it,” lamented Paul Lee.
Just like in Game One, the Hotshots went toe-to-toe with the stacked San Miguel Beermen. The first 24 minutes of the contest saw 11 lead changes and five deadlocks.
“Sa start, I thought na tumaas ulit yung chance namin eh,” recalled Lee.
“Pero ‘yun nga eh, what do you expect? San Miguel ‘yan eh.”
The firepower of the Beermen then proved to be too much. And in order to stop them, the Hotshots tried to get physical with the four-time, defending champions.
It just led to free throws.
“Thirty-six attempts, tapos na-convert nila, twenty-six? Mataas ‘yun.”
Unlike last Wednesday – where Magnolia committed 17 fouls – the Hotshots ended the game with 32.
Lee himself was foul-plagued the entire contest, already tallying three fouls to his name in the first half.
Still, the three-time PBA champion lauded the fire his squad showed late in the contest.
Trailing by as much as 21 points, the Hotshots were able to cut it down to seven to close out the contest.
“Feeling naman namin nandun yung aggressiveness, but sobra lang kaya nag-foul kami. Nafa-foul namin sila ng wala sa lugar. Like kanina, penalty na kami, eight seconds na lang natitira tapos bigla kami nag-foul,” said Lee, who had 10 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists in the contest.
“Yun yung kailangan namin bawasan next game.”
And come Sunday, they look to stop history from repeating itself.
“We need to put more effort and aggressiveness and play smart basketball. Hindi naman natin masasabi na hindi mauulit eh. Puwedeng maulit, puwedeng hindi. Alam mo yun? Hangga’t hindi pa nangyayari yan, wala pang results,” he shared.
“Bibigay lang namin ng magandang laban every game and then live with the result.”
