Kia coach Chris Gavina hopes to see his team display the same resolve that almost led to an upset win over NLEX Wednesday night in its opening assignment in the PBA Philippine Cup.
Branding their so-called unconventional play, the Picanto led by 13 points twice in the first half and had chances to beat the Road Warriors down the stretch before absorbing a 119-115 loss at the Filoil Flying V Centre.
"We showed our grit tonight, we showed a great deal of character in being able to keep up with what I feel is one of the contenders coming into this conference. So if we can do this against NLEX, we can do this against anybody. That's our mindset going in," Gavina said.
Eric Camson scored a career-high 24 points, most of which were made from three-point country, while Rashawn McCarthy and Jay-R Reyes, acquired from San Miguel in exchange for the No. 1 draft pick last October, had 14 and 12 points, respectively.
Veteran Ronald Tubid, the other player Kia received in the trade, scored four points but sat out the rest of the second half because of what Gavina believed was an injured tailbone.
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"A lot of them played with a big chip on their shoulders and I hope they can continue that going forward," said Gavina.
Gavina, however, refused to savor on the moral victory as the Picanto extended their losing skid to 13 games dating back to last season's Commissioner's Cup.
"We showed it in tune-up games but now, anything counts. Our effort level and our focus have to increase. We can't have any letdowns just because of this close game, bottomline is we didn't win and we got to able to be lot hungrier next game against Phoenix," he said.
Kia returns to action on Dec. 27 against Phoenix at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City. (JT)
