Nov 10, 2018

Romeo Travis believes Hotshots can beat the Kings

Romeo Travis feels the Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok has what it takes to beat Ginebra.

The Magnolia import made his bold prediction after the Hotshots ended a seven-game skid against the Kings with a 106-98 victory in the opener of their semifinal series Saturday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City. Travis led the charge by dropping a career-high 37 points,

"I feel like we finally believed that we can beat them," Travis said. "Before it was in question. Now, I feel like the guys feel that they know that we can beat them.

"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," he added. "But it's possible. And that's all I want the guys to know that it's possible. That's what we're gonna go for in the future."

Travis refused to be carried away, though, despite enjoying momentum heading to Monday's Game 2 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

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"I mean, that's where you want to be. It's the best place we can be right now is up," Travis shared.

"But we don't want to be overconfident, we wanna know that we're back to the drawing board. We start 0-0, coming in with the same hunger and same tenacity as we did starting in the second quarter because the first quarter we were really bad.

Magnolia trailed 39-31 at the end of the first quarter but charged back behind its defense and timely baskets from Travis and Paul Lee, who led all locals in scoring with 27 points.

Magnolia's defense also took away the effectiveness of Ginebra import Justin Brownlee, who went 5-of-21 from the field.

"We had a lot of lapses in the first quarter," Travis said. "As the game went on, we got better as a team. We made him pass up the ball and we just kinda locked in a little bit more.

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"It's not me, it's a team effort. I can't take credit for the win, offensively or defensively." (JT)