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Magnolia’s Chito Victolero. Photo form PBA Images. 

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Victolero remains positive after Magnolia's Game 1 loss

Rom Anzures

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/IMG_1020.jpeg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Magnolia’s Chito Victolero. Photo form PBA Images."/><span class="fr-inner"><span id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(65, 65, 65);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;display:inline !important;float:none">Magnolia’s Chito Victolero. <em>Photo form PBA Images.</em></span><em> </em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — The number one seed Magnolia Hotshots were on the losing end in Game 1 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup on Friday.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/2024/2/2/pba-boatwright-perez-take-charge-as-smb-escapes-magnolia-in-game-1-2234" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">PBA: Boatwright, Perez take charge as SMB escapes Magnolia in Game 1</a></div><p>After disposing of the Phoenix Fuel Masters last Wednesday, Chito Victolero and his troops saw themselves trailing by as much as 20 in their 103-95 defeat against the San Miguel Beermen.</p><p>Victolero said that one major reason for their demise was the second quarter where SMB completely dominated them on both ends of the court, with that reflecting on the quarter score, 41-20.</p><p>“We lost one quarter, and that quarter was big for us,” said the former Mapua Cardinal moments after their game at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.</p><p>“Yung second quarter, I think we lost by [21], and that’s the only quarter na medyo malaki yung binigay namin. So titignan namin kung ano yung pwedeng adjustments, and what went wrong,” he explained.</p><p>Also playing a factor in their defeat, he bared, was the short turnaround from the semis to the finals, as most of their players did not have time to recover from their four-game series against the Fuel Masters.</p><p>“We don’t want to make any excuses, pero of course, we want to rest also. But the third group, I’d like to give credit to the third group. Nagka-chance pa kami kahit papano sa dulo,” he said.</p><p>The Hotshots&#x27; third group -- anchored by Russel Escoto, Joseph Eriobu, Aris Dionisio -- cut a 94-74 deficit to just two possessions late in the game.</p><p>”We played very good defense in the second half, I think titignan namin kung anong pwede naming gawin dun,” said Victolero.</p><div><ivs-player data-ivs-key="e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603" data-ivs-spid="3001339" data-ivs-vid="2949887"></ivs-player></div><script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/loader.js"></script><p>The PBA champion mentor revealed that they were actually already looking to give their main gunners extra rest when they were trailing by a big margin, which is why he was proud of how his reserves stepped up to the call and made it a ballgame with less than two minutes left.</p><p>”We felt that sana, makapagpahinga yung starters kasi yun yung kailangan nila. And then nagkaroon kami ng chance. Yung third group did a very, very good job kasi at least, meron kaming chance,” said Victolero, who fielded his starters in the last minute as they tried to salvage a win.</p><p>“I thought si [Tyler] Bey and Paul [Lee] would give us another chance na makalapit sana ng mas malapit. But again, it’s just part of the game. Talagang nangyayari naman yan. Ang important thing lang naman ngayon, pano kami babalik.”</p><p>The Hotshots are now focused on resting and recovering for Game 2, wherein they will try to equalize the series.</p><p>“We just need to go through it,” said Victolero of the short break between Games 1 and 2. “Yun talaga eh, wala naman kaming choice.”</p><p>“But we’re still positive because this is a series, this is not a do-or-die game. Konting adjustments, yung mga mali namin titignan namin,” he said.</p><p>“Tomorrow, we’ll try to watch the film and walk through some of our adjustments, then laban ulit sa Sunday.”</p><p>Game 2 of the Finals series will be on February 4, 6:15 PM, still at the MOA Arena.</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><ivs-player data-ivs-key="e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603" data-ivs-spid="3001339" data-ivs-vid="2948561"></ivs-player></div><script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/loader.js"></script>

<p>The number one seed Magnolia Hotshots were on the losing end in Game 1 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup on Friday.</p>

The number one seed Magnolia Hotshots were on the losing end in Game 1 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup on Friday.