Victolero optimistic on Magnolia's chances in KO match vs. NLEX

Magnolia finds itself in a familiar territory as it heads into a knockout game against NLEX on Sunday with the last quarterfinal berth and the right to face top-seeded NorthPort at stake. 

With this, head coach Chito Victolero is leaning on the positives as they march into the do-or-die game armed with experience and the huge momentum from their three straight convincing victories to end the elimination round. 

"‘Yung chances naman namin I think maganda naman ‘yung nilalaro ng mga bata ngayon. I think mas lumabas ‘yung character namin on the do-or-die games namin," Victolero said after their latest victory on Friday against Meralco.

"And I think, kailangan lang namin pag-usapan tomorrow kung anong plan. Important pa rin ‘yung pag-recover ng body ng mga players ko kasi one day of preparation lang. But laban na ‘yan."

The Hotshots opened their Commissioner's Cup campaign on a sour note, losing six of their first nine games to go on the brink of elimination. But Magnolia, which has plenty of playoff experience at least for the last decade, turned things around and emerged victorious in their previous three matches against Phoenix, Eastern, and the Bolts to get another shot at a quarterfinal spot. 

Magnolia is hoping to build on this when they square off against an equally motivated Road Warriors. 

After all, Magnolia features the second longest active playoff streak after Barangay Ginebra after appearing in the playoffs for the last 18 conferences. 

"The message sa dugout in the first half is we’ve been here before," Victolero added. 

"We committed a lot of mistakes in the past, we experienced it against Converge, against Ginebra, so we cannot afford for it to happen again."

—JKC, GMA Integrated News