Mark Barroca couldn't help but feel emotional over the Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok's PBA Philippine Cup semi-final series victory over the NLEX Road Warriors that gave the franchise its first finals appearance since 2014.
The Hotshots finished off the Road Warriors with a 96-89 win in Tuesday's sixth game of their semis series at the Smart Araneta Coliseum to finally end the drought marred by three semi-final defeats in all three conferences last season.
Magnolia advanced to its first finals since the 2014 Governors' Cup when the team formerly known as San Mig Super Coffee completed the fifth grand slam in PBA history with Barroca among the major stars of the Tim Cone-mentored squad.
This time, Barroca will try to help the team return to the winner's podium against the San Miguel Beermen, who are attempting to capture a fourth consecutive Philippine Cup crown.
"Naiyak nga ako kanina e," said Barroca. "Sobrang pasalamat ako nakabalik kami sa finals, almost (four) years na rin kaming hindi nakapasok. So masaya kami ngayon nakapasok kami. Sana, hindi lang itong finals lang, di pa naman tapos ang misyon. Meron pa kaming lalaruin, yung San Miguel."
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Barroca used to win plenty of championships. He won all five championships under Cone while also capturing the Finals MVP award in the 2014 Philippine Cup.
But Cone's departure during the 2015-16 season to take over Barangay Ginebra San Miguel left the then-Star Hotshots in a struggle until the hiring of coach Chito Victolero brought back the team's winning attitude.
The Hotshots and Victolero didn't seem destined to make the Finals last season. They blew a 3-2 lead against Cone and Ginebra in their Philippine Cup semi-final matchup, absorbed a 3-1 defeat to San Miguel in the Commissioner's Cup before getting swept 3-0 by Meralco in the Governors' Cup.
Barroca hopes that he and the Hotshots won't waste the precious opportunity of being back in the PBA's biggest stage.
"Nandoon nga ang gutom kasi yung frustration nga na talo kami nung semis. Hindi kami umaabot ng finals. Parang pag natatalo kami, nadidismaya kami," he said.
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"Ngayon nasa finals na kami, hindi lang naman yun ang goal dito e. Pang-apat na semis namin nakapasok na rin, so over the hump nga. Yung target namin bahala na, bigay namin best namin ng finals," added Barroca.(JT)
