MAGNOLIA coach Chito Victolero and TNT coach Chot Reyes expressed their mutual respect for each other on the eve of Game 1 of the 2021 PBA Philippine Cup finals.
During the virtual pre-finals press conference on Tuesday, Victolero and Reyes exchanged their admiration before they begin their coaching tussle starting on Wednesday.
Actually, Reyes already lauded Victolero even before the pre-finals press conference where he said young coaches like the Magnolia mentor is a “breath of fresh air” for Philippine basketball shortly after the Tropang GIGA sealed their place in the finals against San Miguel last Sunday.
“I’m very flattered and honored coming from coach Chot ‘yung mga words na binigay niya para sa akin,” said Victolero.
“Since naman nung nag-start ako mag-coach, he is one of the coaches na tinitignan ko together with the other coaches like coach Yeng, coach Norman, coach Tim, ‘yung mga veteran coaches na talagang you look forward ka. I have high respect with him and etong chance na ‘to, I’m very excited.”
Victolero said coaching against Reyes in the finals this year is like facing Tim Cone when he first went up against him.
“Nung nag-head coach ako ng Purefoods against coach Tim, talagang tumatayo rin balahibo ko. Sobrang excited din ako. And facing another brilliant mind and kumbaga siya ‘yung isa sa tinitignan ko before, malaking bagay para sa akin as a learning experience. Hopefully, makuha ko ‘yung respect ni coach Chot dito sa series,” said Victolero.
Reyes clarified he already has high respect towards Victolero, even saying that TNT took a great look at how Magnolia plays San Miguel when studying the Beermen during their semifinal encounter.
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“Contrary to what coach Chito said earlier and with due respect for him, in fact, in case hindi mo alam coach Chito, we used a lot of the stuff that you did in our preparation against San Miguel. We saw how well you play San Miguel. Sabi ko ‘pag-aralan nila ‘yung ginagawa nila.’ That’s a huge measure of our respect for your coaching.”
“And I’m not afraid to admit that because I think as coaches, our job is, number one, we have to be life-long learners. That’s why coach Chito has my utmost respect,” said Reyes.
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