After taking its seventh straight loss last night, the Tigers fell further down the ladder, and now need some sort of a miracle to turn things around in the Talk N Text PBA Philippine Cup.
Before a sparse crowd at the Araneta Coliseum, Coke got off to a good start but, like in their previous games, had a poor finish in taking a 101-95 loss to Air 21.
The losing streak is the worst in Coke’s franchise history. At 3-11 and with only four games left in the elimination round, the Tigers are almost in for an early vacation.
The last time the Tigers tasted a victory was 33 days ago — a hard-earned 92-86 decision over rookie team Welcoat. When and how the losing streak would end not even coach Binky Favis knows.
"I pity the players because the effort is always there. Sometimes, you’d think that they deserve to win but somehow we just keep on falling short," said Favis.
The Coke dugout was almost empty when Favis, not so used to losing, was interviewed.
"I’m just telling my players to keep on pushing and sticking together. Because if we continue to work hard together, sooner or later good things will happen," he said.
"Well, we still have four games left and we’re fighting it out just to avoid outright elimination. We’re having a hard time. If only we could win a game," Favis hoped.
John Arigo was the last player to leave the Coke dugout. Before heading toward the door, he shook hands with his coach, and was told to "just hang in there." — Abac Cordero