CHICAGO - With an imposing start to this conference, the chatter about the Magnolia Hotshots morphing into a championship-caliber team quickly gathered momentum.
But the talks got muted on Sunday night when the PBA Philippine Cup leaders were ambushed by Ginebra, 85-81, at the Araneta Coliseum.
Playing the grizzled, talent-loaded Kings was a litmus test to the legitimacy of the Hotshots' championship aspirations, making Sunday's L a bed-shaking wake-up call.
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It was a crushing defeat, indeed, one where they surrendered a late 71-61 lead while scoring only an anemic 13 points in the fourth quarter.
It also wasn't as catastrophic as Magnolia fans, leery of their beloved team's "Introboys" history, made it out to be.
STILL THE CO-LEADER.
Look, Magnolia remains atop the leaderboard alongside NLEX with a 7-2 slate. Their title-contending status didn't just fade overnight like a gold-plated trinket that attempted to pass itself as solid gold.
While Ginebra deserves a boatload of credit for its suffocating defense, most of Magnolia's wounds were self-inflicted, including a 36.9 percent clip overall from the field (21-of-64) which included a horrid 4-of-21 connect rate from 3.
The ball stuck, a direct result of guards over-dribbling and holding on to the Molten in a way that allowed the Kings defense to scramble and limit the Hotshots to 18 assists.
There were also a lot of hurried 3s and forced 4s.
Zavier Lucero continued his fine form with 16 points and 9 rebounds while hitting 6-of-14 from the field. Magnolia should have gone to him more often in the final two minutes and allow the versatile forward to tow them to the finish line.
A GINEBRA TEMPEST.
In an interview with SPIN.ph, coach Chito Victolero alluded to his players' inability to "weather the storm" as the reason for their demise.
He was right: the heat of Ginebra's 26-point fourth quarter onslaught was weather related.
Although his Magnolia debut following Tuesday's trade from NorthPort was a little wanting with just five points and four rebounds sprinkled with three turnovers, William Navarro is a dangerous addition to the team once he settles in.
Navarro allows the Hotshots to play big bully ball or small ball quick with him and Lucero able to cover spots 3 to 5 in spurts.
It must suck as a Magnolia fan right. Their past traumas involving fast starts that spiraled into even faster declines are the seeds of distrust that breeds paranoia.
Relax
Magnolia's D is still elite, but it cannot take a day off like it did on Sunday where Ginebra pelted them with 36 made field goals out of 74 attempts.
With Lucero and Navarro, and Jerom Lastimosa and Peter Alfaro, plus veterans Mark Barroca, Ian Sangalang and Paul Lee, the Hotshots will be just fine.
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