Webb rues Star’s poor finish, braces for Ginebra
Star head coach Jason Webb reacts to a call during the Hotshots’ loss to the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the 2016 PBA Season opener Wednesday night at Mall of Asia Arena. Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
It was a baptism of fire for Jason Webb in his head coaching debut with Star dropping the season-opener against Rain or Shine Wednesday night.
Leading by as much as 12, 23-11 early in the game, the Hotshots faltered and got outclassed in the end by the Elasto Painters, who are missing their best player Paul Lee due to a knee injury.
“It wasn’t going to be that easy. When we got that lead in the first quarter, we almost felt that it was almost a bad omen,” said former point guard turned coach. “You know that team is going to come back and that’s what we have to see in the future. We need to figure out how to respond when teams come back.”
Webb also admitted that Rain or Shine did all the right adjustments in the end.
“We led for 36 minutes, but ang importante is kung sino ang lamang sa 48th minute eh,” he said. “Credit goes to them that they kept on doing what they were doing. For us, when things are not going your way, you tend to go one-on-one and the like. Their defense also tightened up in the fourth quarter.”
Though defeated, Webb focused on the positives that his team could build on in the coming games.
“That was just players being good and playing well. I’m not going to take any credit for that,” said Webb.
Things aren’t going to get any easier for Star, as it shifts its sights on an early showdown with a common foe, in its former coach Tim Cone and his new squad Barangay Ginebra on Sunday.
“It’s a very bad matchup for us. Rain or Shine is fairly good matchup for us. You talk about size and manpower, and we talked with the guys, sayang kasi this is a game we could win,” Webb said.
“With Ginebra, you could give the advantage to them. Nakita na nila kami, although what they saw weren’t something pretty. They’re a tough matchup for us or any team sa laki nila.”
Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer & other 70+ titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download as early as 4am & share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.
