The Hotshots have always been a perennial title contender. But they just can't seem to win it all.
It is championship or bust for the Magnolia Hotshots in PBA Season 48.
Not that it should come as a surprise. The Chito Victolero-helmed squad made the semifinals in both the Philippine Cup and Commissioner’s Cup in Season 47 and was a win away from making the final four of the Governors’ Cup.
It will also be parading an intact lineup bannered by Paul Lee, Calvin Abueva, Jio Jalalon, Mark Barroca, and Ian Sangalang, who will be joined by newly acquired big man Abu Tratter and high-flying wing David Murrell.
That stacked roster proved to be a handful in the PBA On Tour, going undefeated in 11 games as the team heeded Victolero’s request to play the preseason with the proper mindset.
But great success breeds great expectations, and no less than Magnolia governor Rene Pardo has the highest of expectations for the Hotshots, who last won a championship in the 2018 Governors’ Cup against the then-Alaska Aces.
"My instruction to the boys is a championship—nothing less," bared Pardo in an article posted on the PBA website. "We will see. Hopefully, I can be correct."
Pardo and the Magnolia faithful have every reason to be optimistic as its veteran core of Lee, Abueva, Jalalon, Barroca, and Sangalang is as talented as they come. And it will get plenty of help from the likes of Rome dela Rosa, Aris Dionisio, Jerrick Ahanmisi, and the much-improved James Laput.
But, of course, a team’s title hopes in an import-laced conference rests in part on its import, and Magnolia appears to have gotten the perfect fit in Tyler Bey, an athletic and defensive-minded forward who can fill in the gaps for the pambansang manok.
"Iniisip ko nga kung magpapa-dehado ako, pero I think I will be a hypocrite kung sasabihin ko na mahina yung team ko," Pardo added on his championship-or-bust mindset for Magnolia.
Indeed, the Hotshots are no pushovers. If all goes well, they could be hoisting a championship trophy at the end of the conference.
Magnolia, incidentally, will open Season 48 against the TNT Tropang Giga.