June 06, 2017

Star goes for the kill


STAR dished off one fine game to put Rain or Shine on the ropes in their PBA Commissioner's Cup quarterfinals showdown.

It's now a matter of the Hotshots coming up with a fitting follow up and seal the deal when they clash anew with an Elasto Painters crew aiming to bounce back Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

"Defending champion kasi ang Rain or Shine kaya di p'wedeng bale-walain ito," said Star coach Chito Victolero following his team's 118-82 victory in the opener of the best-of-three series last Monday.

"Maganda ang panalo namin ngayon, but it's not yet over. We need to prepare hard pa rin for Game 2. Let's see kung magiging maganda pa rin ang laro namin."

Should Star prevail anew it would set up a best-of-five semifinal meeting with the winner of the quarterfinals pairing between San Miguel Beer and Phoenix.
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According to league chief statistician Fidel Mangonon, the beating was the third-worst for the Asian Coatings franchise since it joined the league in 2006 as Welcoat.

That is one fact E-Painters coach Caloy Garcia was easy to dismiss. "I told the players in the dugout that losing by 38 is just like losing by one point," he said after emerging from a lengthy meeting with his staff.

What is important, added Garcia, is for his charges to "Just look forward to the next game, do the adjustments and execute."

Victolero is already anticipating one of the things that Rain or Shine might do. "Siguro they would tighten their defense on Ricardo (Ratliffe)."

The bull-strong Star import does merit major attention since he notched 29 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots despite sitting out the entire fourth quarter.
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It is not just Ratliffe alone, however. Allein Maliksi chipped in 16 points, while Aldrech Ramos, Ian Sangalang, Mark Barroca and Jio Jalalon added at least 11 points each. Paul Lee scored only nine points but dished out 10 assists.

As a group, the Hotshots made 49 of 80 field goal tries, compared to the E-Painters' 29-of-88 clip, helping the latter post as much as a 114-73 spread.

"Our priority is to play good defense," said Garcia. "We gave up 61 percent."

A little more support for Duke Crews, who finished with 19 points and 13 boards, but drew little help outside Beau Belga's 18 points, is also needed.

Most important, according to Garcia,is for his players to get their mind-set straight. "It (Game 2) is back to zero-zero," he said. "They now have a twice-to-beat advantage and I think we just have to work on our rotation defensively.

"Malakas din talaga iyung Star. We just have to find ways to beat them."

Jeff Chan knows a sliver of hope is better than none at all. "Lumusot lang kami sa kanila (in Game 2) may tsansa kami," he said.

"Mabigyan lang kami ng chance maka-dikit hanggang last two minutes kaya naming makipagbakbakan sa kanila."