Star Hotshots are peaking at the right time

MANILA, Philippines – For a team adjusting to a new era without longtime franchise star James Yap, under a new coach raring to prove himself, and amid the transition of power from veterans to young ones, the Star Hotshots are already coming together at an opportune time in the playoffs.

The Hotshots, who had a Grand Slam season in 2014 as San Mig Coffee, are in the midst of a dominant surge in their last 3 games since the eliminations of the 2017 PBA Philippine Cup.

Through their last 3 games, they’ve won by an average margin of 38.3 points, including a comfortable 114-83 triumph over the Phoenix Fuel Masters in game 1 of their best-of-3 quarterfinals series. In its last 4 games, Star won by an average of 29 points.

The 35-year-old forward Marc Pingris noted this upswing is a sign of the team peaking at just the right time, with a strong chance of making it to the semifinals again should they win game 2 of the quarterfinals on Monday, February 6.

“‘Yung foundation na binuo namin nung first day na dumating si coach, parang ito na ‘yun e,” said Pingris, who had a double-double 10 points and 14 rebounds plus 4 blocks in game 1. “Win or lose, kailangan sama-sama kami.”

(The foundation we built since coach’s first day, this is it. Win or lose, we should stay together.)

Star rallied from a 3-4 record and ended the eliminations on a 4-game win streak to enter the quarters as the third seed.

It’s been a rocky conference so far as they welcomed new faces in star guard Paul Lee and new coach Chito Victolero, and bid goodbye to Yap, who was traded to Rain or Shine for Lee. They also have several rookies in tow led by spry playmaker Jio Jalalon.

“This team is new, we are new so there’s a new system and I expect it to take time. It’s a process. But now, we’re already building chemistry,” Victolero said in Filipino. “But we can’t stop. I told them we need to be aggressive, we need to have that desire.”

Victolero, a former assistant coach at Mahindra, emphasized all conference long his goal to make Star the top defensive team in the league and for his team to continue acquiring experience as one unit.

“It was Jason (Webb) actually, the foundation is there. I just added a few things,” Victolero said, downplaying credit for how he’s leading Star so far.

This young team is now led by the likes of Lee, Allein Maliksi, Ian Sangalang, and Aldrech Ramos, with a solid veteran cast of Pingris, Mark Barroca, and Rafi Reavis. 

Star has not reached the semifinals since the 2015 Governors’ Cup, and they failed to make the playoffs in last season’s Governors’ Cup.

The Hotshots look to finish off the Fuel Masters on Monday by the strength of their defense once again, just like in game 1.

“It’s all about defense, really,” said Pingris, who shared he wrote “defense against offense” on the whiteboard inside the locker room in game 1 of the series to remind his teammates.

“Pag wala yung defense niyo, hindi tayo mananalo (If we don’t have defense, we won’t win).”

“‘Yung mga pagkatalo namin sa malalakas na team, sila ‘yung nagpapalakas sa amin ngayon e, kaya nakakapag-adjust kami sa mga games. I hope makapasok kami,” he added. (Our losses against tougher teams, they made us stronger, so we were able to adjust in other games. I hope we get to the next round.) – Rappler.com