Miscalculated assumptions proved costly for Magnolia in Game Three of its 2021 Honda PBA Philippine Cup semifinal wars with Meralco two days ago.
The Hotshots thought that they could take the match and seize a commanding 3-0 lead in the race-to-four series. Then they fell flat in the end and bowed, 86-91, against a Bolts team hounded by manpower issues.
“‘Yung Game Three namin, parang na-overwhelm kami nung 2-0. So akala namin is parang mabilis na lang,” admitted guard Mark Barroca.
“So, parang flat kami from the start. Binigyan namin sila ng life. So ‘yun nangyari.“
But as they say, losses teach lessons way better than victories. And that’s precisely what Magnolia showed in Game Four on Sunday.
The Hotshots scored a wire-to-wire 81-69 victory, but not before withstanding a furious fourth quarter rally by the opposition that saw them bring down a 21-point lead to just five with less than three minutes left to play.
Barroca himself was the one who stopped that rally with a booming triple with 2:11 left, before Rafi Reavis and Ian Sangalang made their shots from the charity stripe on separate occasions to apply the finishing touches.
Head coach Chito Victolero couldn’t feel more satisfied with how his wards displayed composure in their bounce-back win – definitely an indication of how much they have all learned from that Game Three awakening.
“‘Yun lang ang sinabi ko sa mga bata, na we need to stay composed. We know na babalik sila. This is not an easy game. And the experience of Mark and the experience of my players, kumbaga dumating sa kanila ‘yun eh.
“So we stayed composed on our last possession, and then Mark hit the three. So that’s it. We weathered the storm,” he said moments after the match at the Don Honorio Ventura State University Gym in Bacolor, Pampanga.
Now that they are up 3-1 and are just a win away from their third all-Filipino finals appearance in four seasons, Victolero said that Magnolia is bringing the same lessons from Game Three heading into the possible clincher.
“We learned from that – we learned from Game Three. We have that same mindset kung ano ‘yung mindset namin ngayon,” said the champion mentor. “I’ll just try to remind the players to be consistent with that mindset.
“We don’t want to [see] happen again what happened in Game Three. Until we get win no. four, that’s the time we end the series. Walang nananalo sa series ng best-of-seven na three wins lang. It must be four wins,” he continued.
“We have to stay focused. We have to remind everybody that the most important game na ilalaro namin is ‘yung game namin na lalaruin on that day – not Game Six, not Game Seven, but Game Five. That is the most important game.”
