RJ Jazul took responsibility for Phoenix Super LPG’s narrow loss to San Miguel on Saturday that prolonged their woes in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
The veteran playmaker felt that he could have handled matters in the endgame much better after his attempt to go for the lead in the final seconds failed, allowing the Beermen to get away with the skid-ending 108-104 victory.
“Looking back, siguro I should have called a timeout pa,” he told reporters moments after emerging from the dugout at the Philsports Arena.
“Kasi, I think, we have one more timeout. It’s on me. I shot it. That’s my judgment, it’s my fault. I will take responsibility for that.”
Jazul has long established himself as one of the league’s elite marksmen, but many were left wondering why he rushed for a three-pointer — still with 7.9 seconds left and his Fuel Masters down by only two, 104-106.
“[It was] not that play talaga. Broken play kami,” the 36-year-old recalled of that particular situation. “And then, I took the shot, it missed.”
Phoenix did pay for it, with CJ Perez calmly sinking both of his free throws after being sent to the line with 1.8 seconds left to make it a four-point gap.
The Fuel Masters then sued for time — the same timeout Jazul said that he wished he could have called for instead of taking the shot.
“One stop away na kami, one play away before that free throw of CJ. It hurts. It hurts for us,” reflected the floor general out of Letran.
Making the defeat even more painful is the fact it is already the team’s third consecutive after that fiery five-game winning streak.
Jazul, however, said that Phoenix can’t afford to lose hope with one more game left in its calendar to boost its playoff hopes — the Fuel Masters are toting a 5-6 record and are set to take on the also-ran Terrafirma next Saturday.
“But we cannot be too low. We have one more game to make it, I hope, at least in the middle of the pack para makalusot,” he said.
As for himself, the former Mr. Quality Minutes awardee vowed to take Saturday night as a lesson to become better moving forward.
“Moving forward I will learn from that. Those plays, it will make or break you. I’ll be better next time.”
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