Nov 11, 2018

Hotshots wary of Kings' expected fightback in Game 2

MAGNOLIA Ang Pambansang Manok went into the PBA Governors Cup semifinals believing it could beat Barangay Ginebra and did just that.

It's now a matter of adding at least an ounce of caution to that belief when the Hotshots tangle with the Kings anew Monday in the continuation of their duel at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Going to the opener with a "We need to believe" mantra, Magnolia carved a 106-98 victory last Saturday to snap its seven-game slide to Ginebra and earn a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series.

How to follow that up is another matter, especially in the face of an expected ferocious fightback by the two-time defending champion.

"Knowing (Ginebra) coach Tim (Cone), a many-time champion coach, the winningest coach, he knows kung ano mga adjustment na gagawin," said Magnolia coach Chito Victolero.

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"We'll just try to be ready and, hopefully, maulit namin in Game 2," added Victolero.

"We're still the underdogs. They have the experience, the talent, skills, coach. Hopefully, the whole coaching staff namin may magandang gameplan for Game 2."

Even the main men responsible for the victory echoed their coach's sentiments.

"They're not gonna lay down, they got a great coach, they got great players, perennial champions, so they're gonna come back and it's not gonna be easy," said Romeo Travis, who led the Game 1 assault with 37 points, 16 rebounds and five assists.

Paul Lee, who added 27 points, including nine clutch ones in the stretch, readily concurs.

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"Knowing coach Tim, you beat him once, he's gonna beat you twice. We need to be ready," said Lee.

"The good thing is we have the experience already with what happened. We need to be ready for Game 2 and forget about Game 1, that's done. Zero-zero again."

As history has proved, there's indeed no room for complacency within the Magnolia camp.

Then known as Star, the Hotshots took a 3-2 lead in their race-to-four 2017 Philippine Cup semis duel, only to watch in horror as the Kings won the last two games.

This time, Cone did give a fair inkling on what tinkering his team must do to at least even up the series.

"We came out with a good force, started the game well, then we started to succumb to their pressure as the game progressed," said Cone after Game 1.

"They played the game they wanted to play. We played their game, so we got to be better," added Cone.

Of main concern for Cone and the rest of Ginebra is how the likes of Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar can lend more support for Justin Brownlee.

After scoring 20 points on a torrid 7-of-9 field goal shooting in the opening quarter, Brownlee repeatedly got stymied. He did finish with 37 points, on top of 14 rebounds and eight assists, but five of his points came after the game has all been but decided.

Aguilar added 18 points, while Slaughter was held to only eight as Magnolia rotated three defenders on him in Ian Sangalang, Rafi Reavis, and Kyle Pascual.

"I didn't think our big guys were totally engaged in the game today," offered Cone. "And they need to get better engaged, and that goes for everybody."(NC)