MANILA – Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots head coach Chito Victolero rued the mental lapses of his players during their 2023-2024 PBA Commissioner’s Cup finals defeat to San Miguel Beermen.
According to Victolero, their mistakes came out during their 104-102 Game 6 defeat to the Beermen, where the Hotshots led by as much as 11 points midway in the fourth quarter.
“I think they (Beermen) deserve to win because they are mentally prepared and they grind all the way,” Victolero said. “We lost in the last six minutes mentally. Basically, we’re good, but in the last six minutes we lost on the mental aspect.”
“That’s mental lapses on our end in terms of execution. We lost on turnover points in the last six minutes,” added Victolero, whose Hotshots committed 17 turnovers to the 14 of San Miguel.
Paul Lee, who tallied conference-high 25 points in the Game 6 loss, agreed with Victolero that the Hotshots lost their focus in the final minutes of the contest against the pressure applied by the Beermen.
“We lost our focus. Dun puwede nating sabihin na na-dominate kami ng San Miguel sa dulo,” said Lee. “Of course, there’s a lot of players there with a lot of experience. Championship experience as a team.”
“Pero may mga bagay pa din ako na dapat ipagpasalamat, natapos yung game ng walang nasaktan. And natapos ko yung series na wala akong injury. So yun ang mga bagay na puwede kong ipag-pasalamat,” he added.
With another heartbreaking defeat, both Victolero and Lee said that there are lessons to be learned against the Beermen which they hope can toughen them up in the 2024 PBA Philippine Cup.
“I’m proud of my players. Until the end, we had a chance, until the end we fought against San Miguel. But I think the mental aspect, we need to get better the next time,” said Victolero.
“Credit to San Miguel. They really want it (the championship),” Lee said. “So (for me) move on, tomorrow is another day.”/PN
