LIKE the rest of the teams, Magnolia is excited by the prospects of returning to the practice court for scrimmages prior to the resumption of the PBA Governors Cup.
Coach Chito Victolero’s main concern now is striking that fine balance between getting his Hotshots back into game-shape without trying to do too much in so short a time.
“Ang tagal ding nagpahinga ng mga iyan, walang scrimmage, walang competition. Iyan ang mahirap,” Victolero told Malaya-Business Insight yesterday.
“We need to make it gradual sa ensayo, but the problem now kung ganoon maghahabol naman kami sa kundisyon at saka sa timing,” added Victolero. “Kung bubugbugin mo naman, baka ma-injure. Mahirap ding mag-balanse talaga.”
The PBA is looking to gain permission from the concerned local government units to allow pro teams to conduct scrimmages in their respective practice venues.
Such full-contact practices were barred when the PBA put all its operations on hold following the spike in COVID cases in the country earlier this year.
With the infections seemingly slowing down, the PBA Board decided to resume the season-ending Governors Cup early next month, but only after the teams have been given 10 days of scrimmages.
Such sharpening up is needed as the teams have been limited to group training via Zoom and small group workouts made up of only four players, a coach, a support staff and a safety officer per set since the PBA’s last games on Dec. 26.
“Iba Zoom sa court training,” explained Victolero. “Sa Zoom hindi mo nagagawa lahat ng talagang gusto mong gawin. Siyempre, iba pa rin ang 5-on-5.”
Before the unwelcome break, Magnolia has been going great guns and even took over top spot when it handily beat Ginebra 117-94 after erstwhile leader NLEX got shocked by Phoenix Super LPG 93-102 on Christmas Day.
How his team could regain that fine form nags at Victolero. “Mahigit one-month na kaming di naglalaro,” he noted. “Even the players ‘pag matagal na napahinga syempre kinakalawang din iyan.”
Easing some of Victolero’s concerns is the fact his team went through the same experience in the last season-opening Philippine Cup, when games at the Ynares Sports Arena were halted after Aug. 1 before resuming Sept. 1 in Bacolor, Pampanga.
“Na-experience na namin ito the last conference, medyo nag-up-and-down kami roon, nag-struggle nu’ng una,” reminisced Victolero. “Iyon ang natutunan namin, lagi naming ipinapaalala sa kanila ngayon, na hindi dapat mawala sa kondisyon at how to recover quickly, in case. We have to learn from that experience.”
