Petron Blaze forward Marcio Lassiter is delighted to see the Boosters find ways to stay unbeaten in the PLDT myDSL PBA Philippine Cup despite having just nine healthy bodies due to a list of injuries to key players.
Lassiter said that it’s not about proving something after losing to San Mig Coffee in last season’s Governors’ Cup finals, but the chemistry they gained from playing together is a key factor why they are having a good start.
“I don’t know if we have a lot to prove, but we just want to play. We can’t think, ‘oh, we’re just in the finals (last conference), we expect to be in the finals this conference’, no we don’t think that,” Lassiter said.
“Maybe we have some chemistry that has been helping us last conference and carried over. So that’s what I think we’re trying to use and the same system make us come together. If we have five players, then that’s what it is,” he added.
The Boosters continued their strong start in the season-opening conference last Wednesday when they rallied from a 13-point deficit to beat Barako Bull, 96-90, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Petron’s current record after four games surpassed last season’s Philippine Cup record when the team’s started at 1-3.
The Boosters eventually finished with a 6-8 record for seventh place before losing to San Mig in the playoffs.
So what’s the difference from last year?
A lot, said Lassiter.
The former Smart Gilas Pilipinas mainstay cited the difference to the players on the team before and now, and the current system that is being run under coach Gee Abanilla.
“I had a banged up year last season (all-Filipino),” said Lassiter, who led Petron with 26 points. “Some players from last season are not here, and we have new guys here. The coach is different, last time we had coach Olsen (Racela) and coach Rajko (Toroman), now we have a coach Gee, and we now have a different system.” (Waylon Galvez)