IF THERE'S anything that changed with Magnolia Ang Pambansang Manok's mind-set regarding its PBA Governors Cup semifinal duel with Barangay Ginebra, it's an additional sense of urgency.
More so now that momentum seems to have shifted to the side of the Kings, who would be eyeing to tie the best-of-five series Friday when the duel shifts to the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
"I've said before na we need to go through the eye of the needle para manalo against Ginebra and totoo pa rin iyon," said Hotshots coach Chito Victolero after his team's 103-107 loss last Wednesday that enabled the reigning back-to-back champion to narrow the series deficit to 1-2.
Victolero, who merited an automatic ejection for shoving the ball at a referee, still 5:08 left in the game, was quick to shrug off the defeat which prevented his team from advancing to the finals outright.
"Iyun ang pinaguusapan talaga namin before the series, na this is not going to be an easy series," stressed Victolero.
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"May chance kami kanina, pero siguro mas para sa Ginebra and also they deserved to win kasi nagtrabaho rin naman sila. Kaya kailangan mas doblehin pa namin ang effort."
The breakthrough win is enough for Ginebra coach Tim Cone to look forward to not only forging a deadlock but also a deciding game.
"We are happy to be alive and kicking," said Cone, "but that's not we are here for. If we are just going to win one game so we can take pride in that, that's pogi points.
"We are here to win the series. I just hope the guys understand that and don't rest on our laurels that they were able to pull out one game. We have to keep moving forward."
Cone bases his prediction on the way his Kings, rallying around Justin Brownlee's 46 points and 19 rebounds, dished out a sterling performance in a game they have to win.
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More is sure to come, bared Cone.
"They beat us twice, we feel we can beat them twice," said Cone.
"We're looking at the jumpball at Game Five and go from there. That's kinda our attitude at this point. We were able to sneak this one out. I'm not sure how. It certainly wasn't great coaching. It was great plays by our guys.
Hopefully, I can be a little bit more effective for them for our guys on Friday."
Indeed, Ginebra's fabled never-say-die spirit was on full display in Game 3, rallying from an early 18-point deficit to even take an 11-point spread in the fourth quarter.
And when Magnolia threatened to steal the game by taking a 103-101 lead, going to the game's last 53 seconds, Scottie Thompson and LA Tenorio came through with the clutch points to seal the deal.
Paul Lee owned up to Magnolia's downfall after he committed a passing error that led to Tenorio's go-ahead floater and his missed triple try in the last five seconds that could have overhauled Ginebra's 105-103 lead.
Like Victolero, Lee remains confident, pointing out his team had chances to pull off the win despite Romeo Travis struggling from the field and winding up with only 12 points and 10 rebounds.
"We'll just keep moving forward. Kasi lahat kami naniniwala kami na kaya naming manalo," said Lee. "Iyun lang ang 'wag mawawala sa amin at sa tingin ko okay kami."(NC)
