And looking at Game 2, Gregorio knows they cannot afford to lose now, because if they do, a comeback may be "very difficult."
The pressure is now on the Purefoods Hotdogs and their coach as they head into Game 2 today following their 73-79 loss to the Alaska Aces in Game 1 of their best-of-seven title series for the PBA Samsung Governors’ Cup.
Gametime is at 6:30 p.m. also at the Araneta Coliseum.
"We have to make adjustments with the things we usually do," Gregorio said. "If we could involve the locals more in the next few games, we’ll have a chance to win this series."
In the semifinals, Gregorio pinned his hopes on his workhorse, Derrick Brown, who lifted the Hotdogs game after game till they reached the finals.
Alaska coach Tim Cone, using his experience and sixth sense in his battle with a young coach, knew probably too well that Brown would be the main cog again in the Hotdogs’ machinery and put up a tactical plan around Brown.
"I think the big key was we did a good defensive job on Derrick Brown," said Cone. "In terms of size and quickness, we had Bryan (Gahol) and Migs (Noble) do a really good job covering him."
"We knew we had to take their locals out of the picture. We wanted to get to a point where Derrick would have to win it for them," he said.
Now, Gregorio feels he should win Game 2 toat least ease the pressure of a comeback.
"There’s no doubt we have to win Game 2 because we don’t want to have to come back from a big deficit in this series," said Gregorio.
Tough double-team defense gave Brown only a 38 percent clip (8 of 21) from the two-point area and 31 percent (4 of 13) from the arc although he was seven-of-seven from the free throw line.
Kelvin Price backed him up with 16 points but Gregorio admits his locals – Rey Evangelista, Ronnie Magsanoc, Kerby Raymundo, Alvin Patrimonio, Roger Yap and Richard Yee – who combined for only 20 percent of the team’s output, may have to do better on the offensive end.
Cone, always the cautious type who loves downplaying his team’s chances, maintains that the Hotdogs cannot be taken lightly.
"There’s no doubt that Purefoods is going to come back at us. We just have to be prepared," said Cone. "You always go into a series with the thought that it will go the long route. My philosophy is that when you entert a series, you should always expect it to go the full route."
James Head, who pumped in a team-high 35 points for Alaska, shares Cone’s apprehension.
This team (Purefoods) is resilient. We were up by 11 points in the fourth quarter and they just kept coming back at us. That shows you they can still come back and we have to be preapred for their comeback," he said. "We’re a young team but I guess we are starting to learn a lot in terms of how to play the game."