Halloween break gives Yap, Hotshots time to do soul-searching

MANILA, Philippines -- James Yap hopes Star's two-day break this weekend will give the Hotshots enough time to do some soul-searching as they try to bounce back from that stinging defeat to tournament darkhorse GlobalPort on Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Yap blamed the team's failure to defend in the second half as the culprit which enabled GlobalPort youngsters Stanley Pringle and Terrence Romeo to lead the Batang Pier's 101-94 win.

"Nakalimutan namin uli yung sistema kasi nagkanya-kanya uli kami lalo na sa defense," Yap told Philstar.com.

"Naka-focus lang kami dapat sa defense, kasi secondary na lang yung offense," he added.

The two-time league MVP felt last week's morale-boosting 86-78 win over his former coach Tim Cone and Barangay Ginebra didn't do well for the Hotshots mentally.

"Parang nakalimutan namin gawin yung sistema, siguro dahil galing kami sa magandang panalo," rued the 33-year-old veteran wingman.

The Hotshots, currently at the bottom half of the standings with their 1-2 record, are still groping for form under rookie coach Jason Webb.

Star has totally veered away from the tried and tested triangle offense of Cone, which yielded five PBA championships, including the grand slam in 2014.

In three games, the Hotshots are giving up 91.2 points, which is far from their league-best 87.53 points last season.