San Miguel Beer remains defiant despite suffering an 80-88 loss to Magnolia in Game 3 of their Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup best-of-seven finals series late Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Veteran sniper Marcio Lassiter said they remain focused on their mission of winning the title despite sputtering on both ends in Game 3 that shifted the momentum to the Hotshots’ favor in this race-to-four titular showdown.
He said they know that Magnolia will storm back so they have to double their energy in Game 4 if they want to move a win away from clinching their franchise’s 29th PBA title.
“We know we’re playing Magnolia. This is a tough series. They’re playing with their backs against the wall as they should. I just felt like we didn’t match their energy,” Lassiter said.
“Well, we need four wins, that’s how I see it. They need four, we need four. It doesn’t matter if its 2-0, 1-0. At the end of the day. We need four wins.”
Lassiter rued their sloppy plays that allowed the Hotshots to dictate the tempo.
“We didn’t come out and execute the way we wanted to but there’s another day and we need to figure out what we did wrong,” Lassiter said.
Although import Tyler Bey had a forgettable performance with 11 points and six rebounds, the local players of Magnolia were on fire with Mark Barroca delivering 20 points, Paul Lee 12 markers and Aris Dionisio and Ian Sangalang chipping in 11.
Lassiter said their coach, Jorge Gallent, will definitely come up with major adjustments to help regain control and wrap up the series as early as Sunday.
“We just got to see what we can do. I’m sure the coaches will make adjustments to that. At the end of the day, it’s still about the effort. To work as a unit and work as one so we don’t give them easy shots,” Lassiter said.
Seven-time Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo agrees, saying that the most important thing at this point is for them to get a win.
From there, anything could happen.
“Of course, there’s pressure here but the important thing is that we bounce back,” Fajardo said.
“They (Magnolia) did well against us. We just have to study the film and make adjustments.”
