Yap, Pingris rue Star's meltdown in first game under Coach Webb

Star came out gunning in their first game under rookie coach Jason Webb, but it looks like the team is still having birth pains after suffering a meltdown against Rain or Shine on Wednesday.

The Hotshots held the lead for three quarters with their free-flowing offense, but the Elasto Painters made key plays in the fourth to wrestle the momentum away en route to a 96-87 opening day victory.

Veterans James Yap and Marc Pingris, however, consider it a grace period needed by the team to adjust to their new style of basketball after four years of running the triangle under former coach Tim Cone.

"Nung fourth quarter, talagang nawala 'yung sistema e. Nagkanya-kanya kami. Ganun naman talaga e, normal 'yun na ganun dahil bago pa 'yung sistema," said Yap, who scored 13 of his 15 points in the first half.

Star scored only 17 points in the final frame, their lowest scoring quarter during the game. They also allowed Rain or Shine to score 27 points in the last 12 minutes for the breakaway win.

"Sayang nga, lumamang kami. Fourth quarter lang talaga bumigay. 'Yun lang naman e," said Pingris, who is coming off his Gilas Pilipinas stint in the FIBA Asia. "Sa defense lang naman nagkatalo e."

The forward also said that the Hotshots need to work hard in practice to polish their system.

They won't have much time, though, before they face their old coach Cone on their Sunday's match against Barangay Ginebra. --JST, GMA News