Mark Barroca came into Sunday night’s Manila Clasico affair with extra inspiration, leading to his best PBA Governors’ Cup performance to date.
And his performance ultimately enabled Magnolia to build its first winning streak of the tilt.
The decorated guard and his wife Ruselle celebrated their 11th wedding anniversary on the same day of their anticipated match versus Ginebra.
He went on to finish with a conference-high 21 points, along with three rebounds, three assists, and two steals. And that then helped the Hotshots deal the reigning champions a 118-88 defeat for their second win in a row.
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“I’m very proud of the players, of my players because talagang ‘yung challenge ko, nagawa nila, especially this guy,” said head coach Chito Victolero, referring to Barroca.
“Off the bench, nakuha niya ‘yung energy namin.
“And maganda kasi nga, very motivated ‘tong si Mark dahil anniversary nila. Sinabihan siguro siya ni Ruselle na ‘pag hindi ka umayos ngayon, hindi ka tatabi mamayang gabi,” added the champion mentor jokingly.
But for Barroca, he simply wanted to come out aggressively since he felt that he wasn’t doing so in their first two matches – he only scored a grand total of seven points in their losses to Converge and TNT Tropang Giga.
“Kasi first two games namin, parang hindi masyadong aggressive eh. So ngayon, naging aggressive na din ako,” he said.
“So ‘yun ang parang mentality ko, na parang kailangan ko depensa, kailangan ko rin umopensa para sa second group namin.”
The 36-year-old is now coming off the bench due to load management per the coaches’ plan, and it’s an adjustment that he’s now learning to grasp.
“Parang sabi nga ni Coach sa akin, [ito] ‘yung time na maga-adjust minutes ko. So nag-usap kami, off the bench, para ‘yung unang games ko na parang, sabi nga ni Coach, ili-limit ‘yung time ko para sa playoffs,” he said.
“So doon ‘yung time na parang naga-adjust pa ako eh. So ngayon, parang dahan-dahan, nakukuha ko,” added the six-time champion.
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The second game of each PBA gameday is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
