Brandon Rosser believes the shock quarterfinal exit in the Grand Finals of the PBA 3x3 second conference will only make him and his Limitless teammates more motivated to retain the Philippines’ halfcourt reign in the Southeast Asian Games.
Limitless’ bid to capture another conference crown was thwarted by eventual champion Pioneer Pro Tibay, which pulled off a dramatic 16-14 overtime win on Gian Abrigo’s two-pointer.
The defeat raised some concerns, confidence-wise for Rosser, Jorey Napoles, Reymar Caduyac and Marvin Hayes as they now switch their focus on next month’s SEAG in Hanoi, Vietnam.
“If you look at the conference as a whole, I think we finished the No. 1 seed, we were the most dominant team, the most consistent team,” Rosser said.
“I think besides Leg 6, we made it to at least the semis every leg, so we’ve been having good practices, it was just not our day (in the Grand Finals) but we're looking forward to the SEA Games.
“We have a sour taste in our mouths and we want to get back the glory that we had before,” added Rosser.
The four were tasked by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas to don the Gilas 3x3 jersey by virtue of giving Limitless the first conference title last December.
But Rosser, Napoles, Caduyac and Hayes could face stiff competition in the May 13 to 14 schedule of the halfcourt competition.
While focusing on the PBA 3x3 campaign, Rosser said the team has been taking notes on what the other countries are doing, particularly the recent ASEAN Basketball League tournament which saw Indonesia winning the crown.
“There’s a lot of size, a lot of experience over there, but you know I think we stack up pretty good versus any team in the region.”
The Appmasters came into the Grand Finals as the top seed, but lost the lead late and allowed the Pro Tibay to make a comeback and eventually take the quarterfinal victory.
The defeat turned out to be a sad ending in the short but productive PBA 3x3 career of Rosser, who recently submitted his application to join the May 15 draft.
“That's my last PBA 3x3 game, so for it to end like that, it's heartbreaking,” said Rosser. “After the delay at Araneta, we had another week to get prepared. And we really had a good week of practice. It’s kinda perplexing that we came out here and just didn’t play our best.
“Hats off to Pioneer, they're a good team, they're a scrappy bunch, and they just got us.”