CONVERGE and Magnolia figured in an intriguing situation on Monday where the result of their matchup would determine their opponents for the PBA 49th Season Governors’ Cup quarterfinals.
The FiberXers and the Hotshots were in a ‘pick-your-poison’ situation, with the winner off to face Group B No. 2 San Miguel, and the loser set to battle Rain or Shine, the No. 1 out of the same group.
Converge eventually won the contest over Magnolia, 89-82, arranging a quarterfinal showdown with the Beermen by virtue of their 6-4 win-loss card. The Hotshots, on the other hand, will clash with the Elasto Painters after going down to 5-5.
READ: Converge tops Magnolia in battle for Group A third seed
The situation the teams were in didn’t go unnoticed by most fans, saying that either Converge or Magnolia could have essentially chosen their opponent for the quarterfinals.
Even more, the supposed victor, fans said, was not exactly gaining an advantage since SMB is as formidable opponent as RoS.
Winning attitude for Converge
When asked about the sentiments of fans, FiberXers coach Franco Atienza said they went into the game with the mindset of winning, regardless of which team they would have been facing in the quarterfinals.
“Our ball club always espouses respect for the game. Every time we go in the court, aasahan niyo ‘yung FiberXers, we will do our best,” said Atienza, whose team will face San Miguel again in the quarterfinals for the third straight time.
“It’s hard to go to the playoffs coming off a loss. We only played our game. We know the situation. We are reading the scenarios also, but we banked more on playing our game.”
“Ni hindi sumagi sa isip namin whoever is next. I’ve been consistent with that. Always look at the present. And right now, ‘yung present game kanina is that game. We have to pass that game a while ago.”
Health is wealth for Magnolia
Magnolia coach Chito Victolero, on the other hand, admitted he put emphasis on resting his players, since it will be a tough match-up for the Hotshots, regardless of whoever they will meet in the quarterfinals.
“We will face the No. 1 team with a lot of talent and a very good import. We’ll just try to be ready. We want our players to stay healthy,” said Victolero, whose team is dealing with injuries to Paul Lee (ankle) and Mark Barroca (nose).
Lee didn’t play, while Barroca saw action for 13 minutes, as Magnolia gave its second and third-stringers more minutes with Calvin Abueva and rookie Peter Alfaro topping the scoring column with 11 points each.
The Hotshots came into the contest with a new import, as Rayvonte Rice took over the spot of injured Shabazz Muhammad. With little time to prepare, Rice only had five points on 2-of-14 from the field, but grabbed seven rebounds in 27 minutes of play,
“We want our players to stay healthy. This is a long series. A best-of-five, and then we will play every other day. That’s why I want them to be fresh. We will start on Wednesday. We cannot afford to have major minutes for today’s game kasi it’s hard for us to recover on one-day prep,” Victolero said.
“So whatever happens today, whoever we will face, the most important is our personnel. We want them to be fresh on Wednesday,” he added.
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