F2 focused on strong finish in PSL

MANILA, Philippines – They may not emerge on top of the first round, but F2 Logistics head coach Ramil de Jesus remains upbeat over their title campaign in the Philippine Superliga All-Filipino Conference.

De Jesus said it’s not how you start, but how you finish the tournament.

“So far, so good,” said De Jesus following a dominant 25-11, 25-22, 25-17 victory over Smart in the final playdate of the first round late Thursday at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

“I’m glad with how we’re performing lately. The elimination round is still ongoing. We still have a lot of time to learn our mistakes and make some adjustments.”

Doubts were raised when the Cargo Movers dropped a four-set decision to Petron followed by another four-set loss to Generika-Ayala last week.

Although they managed to restore order via straight-set victories over erstwhile leader Foton and Smart to close the first round, sideliners still speculated that the Cargo Movers’ title bid is in serious peril.

But De Jesus is well known for making last-minute adjustments.

In Game Two of the best-of-three Grand Prix finals showdown last year, he made a bold move of fielding veteran Cha Cruz in the open spiker spot while moving import Kennedy Bryan to the opposite.

The adjustment caught Petron by surprise, prompting F2 Logistics to clinch Game 2 en route to a dramatic title-clinching finale.  

De Jesus said everything is under control.

“We’re not preparing for the start of the conference — we’re preparing for the end,” said de Jesus, whose crew finished behind topnotcher Petron after the seven-game first round.

“The important thing is for us to stay healthy. If we would be healthy until the end of the conference, we have a very good chance. If not, then we couldn’t do anything about it.”

He stressed that in the end, it’s all about consistency.

After all, it’s not about how they start, it’s about how they end the conference.