IAN Sangalang was in a hurry to put a 'very bad performance’ behind him.
Sangalang went scoreless against a daunting Barangay Ginebra defense in a 96-83 Magnolia loss to the reigning two-time PBA Governors Cup champions on Sunday night before a crowd of 12,200 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The 6-foot-7 Hotshot big man finished 0-for-9 from the field but grabbed a team-high seven rebounds as the team ended its elimination round campaign on a losing note for an 8-3 (win-loss) record.
Sangalang knew his performance was a major letdown considering he was coming off a 28-point explosion – one short of his career-high – in Magnolia’s 116-103 win over TnT Katropa at the Ynares Center in Antipolo last Friday.
Then again, it happens even to the best of them.
“Nangyayari naman talaga yun,” he said. "Siguro medyo kaunting gigil na medyo ilang. Yung sa kagustuhan mong manalo, gusto mong ibigay yung best mo. Pero nangyari na yun.”
Sangalang went 0-of-5 in the first half against a Ginebra defense which coach Tim Cone believed was the Kings’ best effort defensively for this conference,
“I think we really played great defensively in the first half. We were on point,” acknowledged Cone after the league-leading Kings (8-2) held the Hotshots to 31-percent shooting (13-of-42) in the first two quarters.
But nobody can put a good man down, and Sangalang knows this one won’t happen again.
The former NCAA MVP out of San Sebastian said he’ll look at the tape to see what went wrong with his game.
“Ang gusto ko lang ngayon mag move-on coming into the next game, sobrang gusto ko lang maging positive,” he said. “Alam ko coming into the next game, makakabawi ako”
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph