Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots coach Chito Victolero couldn’t help but tip his hat off to coach Jamike Jarin.
This after the Hotshots scraped past the Phoenix Fuel Masters, 89-79, in Game 4 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinals on Wednesday.
“I’d like to give credit also to coach Jamike and the whole organization of Phoenix. They did a very, very good job. It was a battle. Walang tulugan,” he said after the exhausting match at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
It was indeed a battle. Down by as many as 21 points, the Fuel Masters pulled out their trump card.
The Hotshots struggled to breathe in the face of an exhausting full-court pressure that allowed the Fuel Masters to get to as close as nine points. But in the end, Magnolia’s poise and resolve prevailed.
“Pinag-isip niya kaming coaching staff,” he said. “Learning experience 'to for us. Dadalhin namin 'to sa journey namin.”
But the job’s not done. Though they swept the PBA On Tour last year, Magnolia's goal is clear and that is to win the team's first championship since the 2018 Governors’ Cup.
It’s only going to get tougher from there, though. The amiable coach is under no illusion things are going to be easy against the San Miguel Beermen, who ride the crest of a nine-game winning streak entering the PBA Finals. Victolero and the Hotshots are unfazed.
“Now it’s another challenge for us,” he said.
The best-of-seven finale begins on Friday at the same venue. Gametime is set at 7:30pm.