THE work Chito Victolero has been doing at Magnolia has not escaped the discerning eyes of Olympic coach Brian Goorjian.
The Bay Area Dragons mentor acknowledged how good Victolero is with the way the Hotshots have consistently stayed on top of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup standings.
And the Dragons’ Saturday showdown with the Hotshots would be a great barometer on how far the guest team could go in their campaign, according to Goorjian.
“The coach I’d have reference to some others. I don’t know him, but I’ve been impressed with what he does with his team,” said Goorjian of Victolero.
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The Dragons continue to lurk behind the league-leading Hotshots (7-1) after they won for the eighth time in 10 games on Sunday, cruising past the NLEX Road Warriors at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The 20-point blowout raised Bay Area’s record to 8-2 overall behind Magnolia and serves as a perfect springboard going to their matchup with the Hotshots.
The Dragons’ latest victory also made them the first team to reach the playoffs.
But how exactly to prepare his team for the tough battles ahead would only be established at how it will fare against the Hotshots.
“It’ll give us a good indication of our situation going into the playoffs. What we need to work on and what we’re good at, where we are sitting at this thing because we’re playing the best,” said the 69-year-old coach, who steered Australia to its first-ever Olympic medal in men’s basketball with a bronze medal in the Tokyo Games last year.
While Goorjian sees the Dragons getting better and improving every game, he said it will take their best basketball to have a shot at beating Magnolia.
“They’re (Hotshots) playing great basketball, all around. They move the ball and they’ve got good players,” he said. “And we’re going to have to play good basketball to win.”
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