AS far as Blackwater Bossing owner Dioceldo Sy is concerned, his team should have easily been 5-0 in the PBA Philippine Cup.

Unfortunately, Sy said, the team could not finish strong, especially in their last two games, as they tend to play not to lose instead of of just push until the final buzzer sounds.

"We should have been 5-0, not 3-2," said Sy in an interview with The Manila Times' "Prime Times with Lia Badillo-Crisostomo," recalling their last two losses, 97-103 against the NLEX Road Warriors on March 13 and 91-92 against the Terrafirma Dyip on March 16.

'Prime Times' host Lia Badillo-Crisostomo (center) with Jeffrey Cariaso (left), head coach of Blackwater Bossing, and Dioceldo Sy, owner of PBA team Blackwater Bossing and Ever Bilena. PHOTO BY MICHELLE KAYE VILLANUEVA

"The problem now that I told coach [Jeffrey Cariaso] is that the team is young, so the tendency was playing not to lose once you had that big lead. The game plans were perfect. Like in NLEX, we shut down [Robert] Bolick. In Terrafirma, we shut down Juami [Tiongson]; we led by 18-20 points. And in the NLEX game, Bolick made two three-point shots that killed us. And in Terrafirma, Juami made a three-point shot in the last seconds, and we were down one."

For Sy, the team's lack of maturity was the reason Blackwater entered the break with a 3-2 slate, tied with the Dyip at the sixth spot of the 12-team league.

The 66-year-old billionaire, whose team started the conference with three straight victories, stressed the importance of finishing strong.

"The team is young, and they need more maturity. And I told that to coach, and he realized it. I can see that when they have a big lead, they're playing not to lose. Once you play not to lose, that will be a killer to the team. We have to continue pushing, not playing not to lose. That's what we need to correct."

Cariaso, an eight-time PBA champion as a player and four-time as an assistant coach in the B-Meg/ San Mig Coffee/Magnolia franchise, couldn't agree more.

"When we say we're supposed to be 5-0, we're saying that should be the case, but the reality is that we're 3-2. And what we're saying is that because we had big leads in both games, we had opportunities to win that game. It's just that the fight [in the end was lacking], what we talked about every day, stepping on the gas, keep pushing, don't be complacent," Cariaso said.

The 4-time Mythical Team member, who was with Sy during the Prime Times interview, added: "You have to play 48 minutes, so what happened the last two games is that we're not playing the way we're supposed to. We were supposed to play the whole 48 minutes, [but sometimes we stopped] at 46 or as early as 30 plus minutes. We have to finish strong."

Led by players RK Ilagan, Rey Suerte, and JVee Casio, Blackwater resumes its campaign against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters on April 6 at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.