The Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots crawled back from 14 points down in the fourth period but ultimately fell short against the NorthPort Batang Pier in their PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup match.
Magnolia coach Chito Victolero had nothing but praise for import Ricardo Ratliffe as the Hotshots concluded their PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup campaign on Thursday, Feb. 6.
Victolero could not have asked for more from the veteran reinforcement, who played through injury and still proved instrumental in the team’s last-ditch effort for the playoffs.
“If he's healthy, wala naman tayo masasabi doon, talagang can perform on the highest level. But of course, if something bothers him, doon lang 'yung medyo mabigat,” said Victolero of the naturalized South Korean.
“Almost half of the conference he was injured. But again, thankful to him because in our last push, talagang binigay naman niya lahat. 'Yun nga lang, we felt short on this one.”
After suffering a shoulder injury in just the team’s second game, Ratliffe soldiered on and continued delivering double-double games for the Hotshots.
Wounded and all, he still normed 26.2 points, 16.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.1 blocks at the end of the elimination round.
Unfortunately, the Hotshots saw their campaign end on Thursday after the sorry 113-110 loss to top-seeded NorthPort.
Victolero couldn’t help but be proud of his wards’ efforts especially in the final stretch of the conference where they won their last three games and the playoff for the No. 8 against NLEX.
“It was a good run but we fell short by one possession. Still, thankful and appreciate all the effort of my players and the whole team because three weeks ago, we were out, but we made the last trip, the last slot of the playoff,” he said.
“Syempre nakakahinayang lang kasi we're almost there. But credit also to NorthPort. They deserve to be in the semifinals because for the whole conference, they are are playing very well.”