While the Petron Blaze Spikers have had a historic 2019 Philippine Superliga Grand Prix campaign, they were in danger of finishing without a championship.
Once invulnerable, Petron disappointed in Game One of the Finals, getting scorched by perennial rivals F2 Logistics Cargo Movers.
Petron were caught in a do-or-die situation. They then saw fit to let out all their frustration in practice, Wednesday night.
“Nag-open forum lang kami. Hinayaan ko i-express lahat ng feelings nila, hindi puwedeng makimkim. Siyempre the more na nailalabas nila yung feelings nila, mas nafee-feel namin yung isa’t isa,” shared Petron head coach Shaq Delos Santos.
“For us inaccept namin ‘yung (Game One) as a challenge talaga. Wake-up call para sa amin.“
Delos Santos also admitted that his team’s complacency from a 17-game winning streak caught up with them.
“‘Yung doubt namin noong first game, parang feeling namin siguro mahirap man tanggapin or masakit man tanggapin, nagkaroon kami ng complacency. Naging complacent talaga kami. Inaccept namin ‘yun kahapon; pinag-usapan talaga namin, na-feel talaga namin na naging complacent kami,” said Delos Santos.
“For us, mahirap din kasi yung pinagdaanan namin. Hindi porque nananalo ka, perfect ka na kasi ‘yun ‘yung mas mahirap din ingatan, gaya noon. Noong dulo pa Game One pa kami natalo, pero kasi part ‘yun [ng game, kaya] accept lang ng accept kasi kailangan pa rin maging strong.”
Game Two was close at first, until Petron’s big guns in Kath Bell and Stephanie Niemer found their groove and overwhelmed F2 Logistics.
For Game Three, Delos Santos expects consistent effort right from the first whistle.
“Kumbaga, ‘yung consistency kasi kailangan namin talaga. Good thing lang talaga nakaka-recover kami, so ‘yun lang. Kailangan din namin ma-recover muna yung imports kasi sobrang all-out sila. ‘Yung eagerness talaga nila, of course ‘yung locals din naman, pero ‘yung mga imports sobrang gusto talagang makabawi.”
