Wala pang balak ang Star na bitawan si Marqus Blakely, kahit halatang inconsistent ang resident import sa PBA Governors Cup.
“This is a team,” ani Hotshots coach Jason Webb pagkatapos ng 109-100 loss ng team sa San Miguel Beer noong Linggo. “Unless there is a circumstance where we can say that this is the reason that we’re losing.”
Inamin naman ni Webb na sasailalim sa evaluation ang buong team, hindi lang si Blakely, pagkatapos ng ikatlong talo ng Star sa apat na laro.
“First, we have to look at ourselves, coaches, other players, and we’ll decide from there,” wika ni Webb. “Faith will always be there in our players from our first guy to the last guy and we’re just hoping that guys will come up and play their best. As long as they’re trying, we’ll be on their corner.”
Sasamantalahin ng Hotshots ang break ngayong All-Star Weekend para mapaganda ang kampanya sa season-ending conference.
Kontra Beermen, humablot si Blakely ng game-high 21 rebounds pero may 15 points lang sa 7 of 12 shooting, at nilista ang 10 sa 25 turnovers ng Hotshots. Napigil din siya ng five fouls, karamihan kay SMB big man June Mar Fajardo.
“He got a triple-double, but we were hoping na hindi turnovers ‘yung isa,” nangingiting pahayag ni Webb.
Posibleng nabasa na rin ng ibang teams ang galaw ni Blakely na nagbigay sa kanya ng back-to-back Best Import awards noong 2012 at 2013. Naghahanap na ang ibang teams ng maitatapat sa kalibre niya.
“Remember, Marqus Blakely was the benchmark years ago. Other teams, they’re telling their agents, ‘I want a guy better than Marqus Blakely,’” paliwanag ni Webb. “We’re hoping that Marqus is able to become a better player because ‘yung mga kalaban namin, kumukuha na sila ng mas magaling sa kanya o kay (SMB import) AZ (Reid).”