ANY team staring at a 0-3 series hole will surely be disheartened.
But not for NorthPort, with Batang Pier star forward Arvin Tolentino insisting they are far from done.
“We’re just really trying to be positive. We actually overachieved this conference and we’re just trying to be positive and stick to each other,” Tolentino said. “It’s really a hard thing to do right now being down 0-3.
“I can’t say we’re good, because we’re down, but iyong morale ng team is, I can say okay pa naman kami,” he added.
The wards of coach Bonnie Tan could not find answers to a Ginebra juggernaut and was beaten black and blue anew 100-127 last Sunday night in Game 3 of their best-of-7 semifinals clash in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
The 6-foot-5 Tolentino was shellshocked that the Batang Pier has been no match to the Kings so far.
“Actually, mataas iyong kumpinyansa namin coming into this series kasi panalo kami sa kanila noong elims so may mental advantage kami sa kanila,” the Best Player of the Conference candidate said.
“We also had two weeks of preparation. Hindi namin actually in-expect iyong ganito.”
Tolentino said they better shape up in the fourth tiff tomorrow at the Smart Araneta Colisum to avert a humiliating sweep.
“We all know na Ginebra is an experienced team. They have coach Tim Cone and five or six national team players and they’ve been together for a long time and siguro we beat them noong eliminations, but they really adjusted sa amin nitong playoffs,” he said. “Until now, we’re still looking for answers to why a lot of things are not clicking. Good thing we have one more chance.”
