Pinataob ng Magnolia Hotshots ang crowd favorite Barangay Ginebra, 93-91, nitong Linggo ng gabi sa pagpapatuloy ng Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup.
Sinabi ni Magnolia slotman na si James Laput sa kabila ng pagbaba ng 26 puntos sa simula, tumanggi silang sumuko hanggang sa makumpleto ang 93-91 tagumpay laban sa Kings sa kanilang unang engkuwentro ngayong season.
Ang 26-point rally ay ang pinakamalaki sa kasaysayan ng prangkisa mula nang mapagtagumpayan ng Hotshots ang 29-point cushion para martilyo ang 86-84 overtime win laban sa Alaska sa Fiesta Conference noong 2005.
Interestingly, si Ginebra coach Tim Cone ang humahawak sa Alaska noon.
“For us, we just brought out the passion in us and displayed how the Magnolia basketball should be played,” sabi ni Laput sa DT. “Actually, I was trying to think of a caption the other day. Our identity is our defense, that the best offense for us is our defense.”
“If Ginebra is never-say-die and they don’t want to die, well for us, we want to live and we are going to fight and grind. Hence, ‘Viva La Magnolia’ could be a fitting description for us. This team and all of our accomplishments to come is a fight for life. To build our own legacy – Viva La Magnolia,” dagdag niya.
Laban kay Christian Standhardinger, nanindigan si Laput, nagtapos na may 13 puntos, siyam na rebounds at walong assist sa ibabaw ng iba pang intangibles na hindi sumasalamin sa statistics sheet.
“We showed our identity in the second half,” sabi ni Laput. “I’m just appreciative of the coaches and my teammates. We’re all playing together and we’re a well-oiled machine right now. If we can keep on doing that, I think we can be a great, great team.”
Sinabi ni Mark Barroca, na nagsimula sa malaking second-half run sa pamamagitan ng steal na dumaloy sa iba pang bahagi ng koponan, sinabi ni Magnolia coach Chito Victolero na nagbigay ng masiglang usapan sa halftime na nagpasigla sa kanila.
“We were fired up by Coach Chito. He was so mad at us and I though he’s going to get injured again when he attempted to try to kick on something inside the locker room,” sabi ni Barroca. “We were picking on each other, we were starting to blame each other, but Coach Chito told everyone to blame him instead of everybody on the team.”