Phoenix holds an advantage, but Jarin is under no illusion that it's going to be a breeze against the Bolts, who did finish with the same 8-3 record.
Phoenix coach Jamike Jarin took the blame after the Fuel Masters fell prey to TNT Tropang Giga, 116-96 on the final day of PBA Commissioner’s Cup eliminations.
The Fuel Masters raced off to a scintillating start, but sputtered in the final two quarters to take the loss, which ended up dropping them to no. 4 heading into the playoffs, instead of being no. 2.
Jarin didn’t look far when searching for answers to how Phoenix lost steam beginning in the third period.
“We came, we played good actually in the first two quarters then all of a sudden, third quarter we just lost steam. So for me, I think, I take full responsibility for that,” he told reporters after the match at the Philsports Arena on Sunday.
“We were missing shots, they made their shots. We've had some turnovers that killed us defensively, and offensive rebounds were the story of the game. So we need to work on those things if we want to get into the semifinals,” Jarin added.
But the Fuel Masters refused to sulk over the loss and will shift their focus on the upcoming quarterfinals where they will take on the Meralco Bolts. While the drop in seeding ended up being unfortunate, Phoenix is on its best run since the 2020 PBA bubble in Clark, and the team will look to capitalize on that.
“Like what our import [Johnathan Williams] said, it's a new season right now, because it's the playoff season,” coach Jamike said.
“It doesn't matter what you’ve done in the elimination and what happened tonight. It's a different ballgame. We're in a position right now to get into the semifinals and it's gonna be against Meralco. So we're gonna get our bodies and we play on Wednesday.”
Phoenix holds a twice-to-beat advantage, but Jarin is under no illusion this matchup is going to be a breeze against the Bolts, who did finish with the same 8-3 record.
“Meralco is a team that was supposed to be in the Top 4. But unfortunately, because of the quotient, they dropped to the fifth. So it's not gonna be easy, right? It's not gonna be easy,” he said.
“They have a full lineup right now, so it's just gonna be who wants it more. It's gonna be intersting come Wednesday.”