Turnovers a cause of concern for falling Star

MANILA, Philippines -- As Star heads to its last three elimination round assignments, rookie coach Jason Webb simply wanted the Hotshots to keep their minds focused on limiting their turnovers as well as execute efficiently on both ends of the floor.

The freshman Star coach said they can’t allow the four-game losing streak to affect them at this point.

“We just want to deal with what’s ahead of us,” Webb told Philstar.com, whose team tries to get out of the funk against an equally struggling Mahindra Enforcers on Sunday.

The Hotshots, currently at the bottom-half of the standings at 2-6, are in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time in the post-Tim Cone era.

Star is averaging 20 turnovers a ball game in the Philippine Cup, a key department that Webb admitted, has become a cause of concern.

His core of James Yap, Mark Barroca, Alex Mallari, Ian Sangalang and Marc Pingris account for close to 15 turnovers in the all-Filipino conference.

Barroca, now in his fifth season as a pro, averages a team-high 4.0 turnovers per contest with Mallari next at 2.6.

But Webb defended his veteran core.

“In defense of those guys, they are playmakers and they are merely trying to make plays,” explained the former TV analyst-turned-coach.

“Kasi alam natin, kapag turnovers, negative agad ang connotation but we hope to polish all that in practice.”

Yap appeared to be in a better scoring groove under Webb’s up-tempo type of game after leading the team this season with his 17.5 points per game average.

But the Hotshots will need more than just Yap to do much of the scoring.

“We just have to find ways to score. Kung titingnan mo (their losses), the difference lies on our turnovers,” he added.