THE Petron Blaze Boosters expect a well motivated Elijah Millsap to play with more fire in his eyes for the rest of the PBA Governors' Cup Finals after losing the Best Import award to Marcus Blakely of San Mig Coffee.
As Blakely hoisted the Best Import plaque at midcourt during the short awarding ceremony held prior to Game 2 of the title series Sunday, Ronald Tubid was among the first to approach Millsap and console the American.
But Millsap was quick to appease his teammates and reminded them to just keep their sight on the ultimate prize – win the championship.
“It doesn’t matter (losing the award) to me. Let’s focus. Focus,” Millsap told Tubid as the entire San Mig team was congratulating Blakely for the award.
Chico Lanete also tried to give the brother of Atlanta Hawks star Paul Millsap a pat on the back, but the import glared at him.
“Parang lalong nagalit ang tingin ko eh. Hopefully, his loss will wake up more the animal in him. Baka lalong mag-halimaw ito,” said Lanete after seeing Millsap explode for 17 points in the first half of Game 2. He eventually finished with 31 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out in a 100-93 losing cause.
Best Player of the Conference winner Arwind Santos meanwhile, believes Millsap will be motivated even more to bring Petron to greater heights.
“Ayos lang sa kanya `yung talo na yun. Mas lalong manggigigil yan. Sana yun ang bad news para sa kalaban,’ said Santos.
Millsap trailed Blakely in all departments, with the exception free throw percentage, which is one of the reasons why the San Mig import won the award.
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