The Blackwater Bossing are reeling coming into their game versus the Phoenix Fuel Masters later today at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium. They’ve lost two straight, with the latter a 115-85 drubbing at the hands of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel. Naturally, Pat Aquino is concerned—but not raising the alarm just yet.
“I feel that the team almost parang nawalan ng gana,” Aquino bared after the loss to Ginebra, which came on the heels of a 116-114 heartbreaker to the Meralco Bolts. “Parang pumasok sa isip ng mga bata na baka bumabalik na naman kami sa dati. We talked about it after the game, and we talked about it in our last two practices, and we showed them where we could do better.”
Blackwater Must Be Accountable, Show Effort
A winner at every level, Aquino knows precisely where the Bossing must improve. And it starts with two things: accountability and the right mindset.
“Dapat din tanggalin na namin mga frustrations namin. We have to be accountable for anything we do out there. We have to have the effort and the communication to sustain what we are doing,” Aquino pointed out. “We’re trying to remove that mindset na once our opponent starts coming back at us tiklop na kami. We’re constantly drilling into them na eto na bagong Blackwater, hindi basta-basta magpapatalo. We need to be more competitive, more aggressive in everything we do out there.”
The Bossing showed those qualities in their two wins to start the PBA Governors’ Cup—a 131-108 rout of the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters and a 91-89 escape act versus the Magnolia Hotshots—and even in their close loss to the Bolts. But, as the saying goes, old habits die hard, and it was apparent in that blowout against Ginebra, where Blackwater folded once the crowd darlings upped the pressure and built a lead.
Phoenix Is Next
Aquino won’t have to wait long to see if his Bossing have that fight, as Blackwater is up for another challenge in the Phoenix Fuel Masters, the leader of Group B thus far. And for the former Gilas Women coach, the keys to a bounce back are toughness and aggression.
“They’ll be tough, so we’ve got to be tougher, be more aggressive,” he said. “Coach Charles (Tiu) has been doing so well with Phoenix. Nakuha na niya mga tiwala ng players niya, they’re buying into his system. So, we need to approach that game very aggressively. I think that’s what Rain or Shine did—being aggressive both on offense and defense.”
Game time is at 5:15 p.m.
