San Miguel Beermen guard Jericho Cruz clarified that his slow start in their 86-78 Game 5 loss to TNT Tropang 5G in the PBA Philippine Cup Finals had nothing to do with recent off-court noise.
Speaking to DWAR Abante Radyo’s Zeus Valdez, Cruz downplayed the comments made by TNT team manager Jojo Lastimosa, who previously criticized him for “showboating” after scoring in Game 4, as well as the jeers hurled by Tropang Giga fans during the match.
“Wala, wala namang problema sa akin eh, talo kami eh, they deserve to win,” Cruz said. “Walang problema sa akin, nakakatanggap naman ako ng pagkatalo eh.”
“Hindi ko naman napapansin ‘yun eh, hindi naman tayo basta mapipikon, okay lang ‘yun,” he added. “Wala namang problema sa akin eh, kahit murahin ako ng fans, basta huwag lang ‘yung pamilya ko.”
Despite scoring only one point in the first half, Cruz recovered in the second half to finish with a team-high 20 points. He also gave credit to TNT’s high energy and hustle that helped them stay alive in the best-of-seven series.
“Ganyan naman talaga ‘yung basketball eh, sila ‘yung magaling ngayon eh. Kami bounce back na lang, pag-aralan namin ‘yung mga mali na ginawa namin. Move on na lang, back to the drawing board,” he said.
“‘Yung kulang namin ‘yung effort talaga, kasi ‘yung effort namin walang wala sa effort nila eh, kumbaga ‘yung effort nila to the highest eh, kami parang up and down, up and down eh. Sa next game siguro ‘yung effort namin dagdagan namin,” Cruz added.
With their lead trimmed to 3-2, the Beermen will try again to close out the series in Game 6 on Friday night at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.
“Kudos sa kanila kasi lahat sila nagbigay ng effort eh, so congrats sa kanila at kita-kits uli sa Friday,” Cruz said.
Video courtesy of Zeus Valdez | DWAR Abante Radyo Sports
The post Jericho Cruz shrugs off Jolas’ remark, denies Game 5 slump due to distractions first appeared on Fastbreak.
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