Tune-up games are generally viewed as part of teams’ preparations. But there’s actually one which served as a rude awakening for Magnolia.
Mike Harris bared that he and his Hotshots absorbed a harsh beatdown in the hands of Rain or Shine prior to the 2021-22 PBA Governors’ Cup resumption.
Though the former Best Import did not disclose further details regarding the friendly such as the final score, his team, in his words, got “destroyed.”
“We had a scrimmage against Rain or Shine, and they just beat the heck out of us,” Harris described. “I mean they just destroyed us from every angle with physical play. They really took advantage of us.”
As bad as it was, though, the 38-year-old said that it was actually something that the entire crew needed, one that had them recalibrated, somehow, heading into the continuation of their campaign against TNT.
“And it was a wake-up call. That was exactly what we needed,” said Harris.
“After that, the next three games of getting ready for practice for TNT, we were locked in, guys were focused, we were aggressive.”
And it showed come game night. The Hotshots went off to a fiery start with a 21-4 blitz, and then flexed its vaunted composure in the endgame to eke out the nail-biting 96-93 victory to extend their unbeaten run to four.
“We focused on our defense. And that’s really our staple, no matter what,” said Harris. “That’s what we talked about, our defense and trying to limit our turnovers. Our strong defensive start kind of got our offense fired up.”
Harris himself was phenomenal in the match. He finished with 41 points on 61-percent shooting from the field, on top of 18 rebounds and two assists against just three turnovers in the nearly 43 minutes he played.
Photo by PBA Images
“It’s very important,” said head coach Chito Victolero on having someone like Harris.
“Sabi ko nga, it’s not only the talent of Mike but his leadership.”
Still, there remains a lot more to learn from the loss, Harris insisted, most especially when they allowed the opposition to surge back.
The Hotshots actually led by as many as 19, only to cough it up and allow the Tropa to take the driver’s seat for a while. Jayson Castro sank a technical free throw to lift his side up, 78-77, with 8:38 remaining in the final period.
But Harris was quick to tie the game through a split from the line, and that lit up an 8-0 run — which he himself ended as well — for an 85-78 lead with 6:26 left.
They remained ahead for good, but not without any threat. TNT managed to come within a point, 91-90, following back-to-back treys by Kib Montalbo, but the troika of Paul Lee, Mark Barroca, and Ian Sangalang kept them at bay.
Harris actually had the chance to ice the game in the final 1.6 seconds but missed both of his freebies. However, he got his own miss, closing the door to any potential comeback by the Tropang Giga to seal the deal.
“We’ve been stressing, and Coach reiterated, that TNT, they have a great second unit. And their second unit, they showed it. After we got off to a really good start, they kind of punched us in the mouth,” said Harris.
“And that’s something that we’ve got to work on these next few days in practice, to let our guys know when they come in, it doesn’t matter who it is, we’re only as strong as our 17th player,” he continued.
“Those guys have got to be prepared, and everyone gets to step up.”
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