Mark Barroca, guard for the Magnolia Hotshots. – MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines – Magnolia absorbed one of its worst defeats in franchise history in the PBA Philippine Cup on Sunday, but Mark Barroca did his best to look for a silver lining despite the Hotshots' poor performance.
The Hotshots fought hard, scoring just 51 points in a 23-point drubbing inflicted by the Bolts.
“I honestly don’t know either… They had a good start, we had a bad start, that was one of the things that happened,” said Barroca, in Filipino, after scoring five points and five rebounds.
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“We had difficulties in attack, but even they only scored 71. They are also a defensive team like us, it's the same thing. The difference was that we couldn't shoot. We had a lot of open looks, but we couldn’t do the open looks.”
The last time Magnolia was limited to fewer than 60 points was in 2005, when they lost to the now-defunct St. Lucia, 54-53.
To make matters worse for the Hotshots, 51 points were a franchise minimum.
Magnolia shot just 25 percent from the field, making just 18 of its 71 attempts.
Even so, Barroca remained optimistic.
“We are grateful that this happened, for this fight. In this conference, we are up and down. We win, we lose, we win and that is part of our journey. Let's look at this as something positive and as a lesson for the team”, said Barroca as his team fell to a 5-4 card.
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