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“Babawi ako” said Abueva.
The brief statement came out from the Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots power forward while Coach Chito Victolero was talking to some reporters after the game on Friday versus the San Miguel Beermen.
Abueva struggled in Friday’s loss to San Miguel. Abueva only scored four points on 2-of-7 shooting from the field and grabbed six rebounds. He also committed four turnovers and had three fouls as Magnolia sorely missed his presence and lost to San Miguel, 87-81.
Another thing going for him is that since moving to Magnolia in a trade with Phoenix, Abueva has not lost to Barangay Ginebra, playing well in the two games thus far against the Gins.
Chito Victolero on Demanding Schedule
Sunday will be a huge game for Magnolia, a rivalry clash against Barangay Ginebra early in the season on Fathers’ Day. They go into the game with a 1-3 win-loss record. Coach Victolero admitted the difficult schedule is also taking its toll on the team. He wishes that the Hotshots would be able to survive as they face the Gin Kings.
“We just try to dig deep and hopefully, we can recover before Sunday para may legs kami,” said Victolero.
“Kailangan talaga namin recover and rest. We play three games in five days. It’s very hard for everyone, not only for the players but also for the coaches. Hopefully, we can survive. We have to find ways on how to win on Sunday even if we have a deadly schedule,” Victolero said.
Magnolia won over NorthPort, 80-77, on Wednesday before dropping an 87-81 decision against San Miguel on Friday at the Ynares Center to fall to 1-3.
The Hotshots are already playing shorthanded with Paul Lee missing the contest due to a recurring back spasm. Rafi Reavis also did not play due to diarrhea while Mark Barroca played through a calf injury.
“The injuries kasi kasama ‘yan,” said Victolero. “But you know, I’m very concerned about the schedule. I’m very concerned about the game. We have only one game to recover.”
“We played the best teams in the last five days. We played NorthPort which was on top of the standings and then we played San Miguel today. And we play against Ginebra on Sunday. I don’t know what happened to the schedule. It’s a very bad schedule. It happened to us,” said Victolero.
The Magnolia coach said they will try to prepare the best way possible on Saturday before they clash with Ginebra, a team that is also unbeaten after two games.
Gilas defeats the tough and strong Tall Blacks
MANILA, Philippines – GILAS Pilipinas extended its undefeated record in the FIBA Asia Cup qualifications Thursday night by finally breaking through against New Zealand, 93-89.
