MACAU – BONG Ramos is hoping for nothing but the best for Blackwater as it will only have a short preparation time for its make-or-break game in the Asia League Super 8 2018.
“Maaring it could be an advantage for us or a disadvantage. We’ll see tomorrow but we don’t know how the players will prepare by themsleves inside the room. They’ll rest for the night and we just have to stay focused versus Japan,” the coach said.
The Elite suffered an 88-69 defeat to Guangzhou in their 7 p.m. game on Wednesday, which finished at 8:40 p.m., but will have to make a quick pivot to prepare for Rizing Zephyr Fukuoka in a Thursday game set at 3 p.m.
However, Ramos is wary of his team’s frustrations after being held scoreless for the better part of the fourth period by the Chinese side.
“Ang dami naming atake na hindi namin na-covert. Yung mga players na-frustrate and basketball is a game of momentum. They were able to get that big momentum during the fourth quarter and alam naman natin na China has tall players kaya their defense from the start, talagang na-deny nila kami,” he said.
The Elite got within a point of the Long Lions at the end of the third quarter, but the Chinese buckled down on defense in the payoff period.
Nard Pinto ended the dry spell for the Blackwater at the 4:54 mark with a split from the charity stripe, but that was too little too late as Guangzhou by then had already erected a 72-59 spread.
Rather than mope over the loss, Ramos told his players to move on and learn from their mistakes.
“Our shots were really open but we just didn’t convert, and then they made their threes and scored inside. Kami naman, nag-kanya-kanya na. So we have to learn from that,” he said. “That’s part of our preparations for the third conference of the PBA. Sa tingin ko, yung players natututo naman.”
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