With four more games left in the PBA Philippine Cup, acting head coach Chito Victolero reminded his troops to look at the bigger picture: making the playoffs.
“Before the Meralco game, I gave them the bigger picture and I told them we have to take it one game at a time. We are at the bottom but we looked back at our past games, it is about the desire to win the game,” Victolero said.
The Enforcers have not made any playoff round since entering the league in 2014. With the tools to compete and elevate their performance, the Mahindra squad are trying to pick up important lessons from their campaign and be an even more mature group.
“I told them at the end of the game we have to get the W. I am very thankful because my players responded well to my challenge,” Victolero said.
“[Those losses] are good experience for our players. I know we are young, we have a lot of rookies pero they have to mature quickly. Maganda para sa amin to.”
Mahindra have a difficult schedule ahead, including games against San Miguel and Star. Victolero hopes his team gets more experience from those battles
“We have to focus one game at a time. It is a hard game against San Miguel. They are the defending champions but they have to develop that mental toughness,” he said.
Ultimately, Victolero hopes to carry his team to the playoffs, so the young team can experience what it’s like playing in a bigger stage.
“Ang goal namin now is to make the playoffs. Pinakita namin kung nasaan kami ngayon, nasaan ang mga kalaban at kasama namin sa baba. Dun kami mags-start. That’s the big picture. Kung umabot kami sa (number) 10 okay na yun, if we make the playoffs, yun ang destiny namin. I want them to experience the (playoff) game. I want my young players to experience what the playoffs is.”
