TNT KaTropa coach Nash Racela conceded to San Miguel Beer’s near-perfect performance that he was hoping the Texters should’ve showed in Game Six of PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals on Sunday night.
Everything seemed to click for the Beermen in their 115-91 title-clinching win as they looked like the ones who were on the brink of elimination, showing the sense of urgency by mounting on an early salvo that they maintained, never letting the Texters come closer than 13 points in the second half.
“To tell you honestly, San Miguel played almost a perfect game today,” Racela said. “When we needed it the most, that's when, suddenly, they played really, really well. It's hard to beat a team like San Miguel, alam mo naman malakas yang team na yan.”
“It's actually us who needed to play perfectly,” he added. “But well, again, that's the character of their team, that's why they're the champions. Kung kailan mo kailangan, that's when they suddenly play well.”
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Racela took the Texters’ latest setback in stride, believing his wards still brought their A-game in the series.
“That's life,” the rookie PBA head coach said. “Sometimes, you plan for things, pero God knows better. Ang importante sa amin, as long as we know in our hearts we gave it our best shot, dapat okay kami.”
Racela, though, also believes the Texters are on the right track, comparing their journey to the SMB franchise days before coach Leo Austria took over at the helm.
“We are in the process of getting there,” the TNT coach said. “Pinag-usapan namin kanina, if you look at San Miguel and where they are right now, they never got to this stage overnight. Maraming drama yan before - Petronovela, ganyan and it took them years and lots of conferences before they won their championships.
“We are going through the same process,” he added. “We just have to remind ourselves to be patient. Sabi nga namin, before the start of the series, a lot of people talked about us being the inexperienced team, having maybe eight, nine players without Finals experience.”
“It won't be the case next time because that's something we gained today - the learnings and the experience,” he continued.
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