MANILA, Philippines — Magnolia import Ricardo Ratliffe is eager to play in his first-ever Manila Clasico game on Christmas Day when the Hotshots clash with long-time rival Barangay Ginebra Kings.
Now 35, Ratliffe admitted missing the chance to play against the Gin Kings during his first two PBA stints with the team in 2016 and 2017.
“I’m looking forward to it, I know it’s the biggest rivalry in this league,” Ratliffe said on Friday night, shortly after Magnolia ended its four-game slide after outlasting NLEX, 99-95 in overtime on Friday.
“I didn’t get a chance to play my first two times because I came in as a replacement. I usually come around right before playoffs because of my season in Korea. Definitely looking forward to Christmas and play my first rivalry game,” he added.
The hulking Ratliffe erupted for 38 points and 19 rebounds against NLEX in what was easily his biggest game for the conference to help the Hotshots regain their confidence as they improved to 2-4.
While Magnolia is still groping for form in the Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup, Ratliffe knows a PBA game against Ginebra, the league’s most popular squad at any given time, gives him a unique chance to showcase what he can do on the court and more importantly, give his team the win.
“We had to have a playoff mindset. We dug ourselves in a pretty deep hole
and like coach said, hopefully we could get some momentum, and have confidence to our next game,” explained Ratliffe, who played as South Korea’s naturalized player in the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China.
The former Missouri standout will be ranged against Ginebra’s resident import Justin Brownlee, who just a few days back, torched Terrafirma with 49 points in the Gin Kings’ 114-98 win.
Ginebra and Magnolia, whose PBA rivalry dates back to the 1988 season, clash for the first time on Christmas Day since the 2021 season when the Hotshots, then reinforced by Mike Harris, clobbered the Gin Kings, 117-94 at the Big Dome, witnessed by 4,843 fans, then the largest crowd in the COVID-19 pandemic era.
That Christmas Day was special for Magnolia, after holding jersey retirement ceremonies of long-time stars Peter June Simon and Marc Pingris at halftime.
The following year, Ginebra returned to action on Christmas Day, registering a 96-81 demolition of foreign squad Bay Area Dragons in Game 1 of the 2022-23 Commissioner’s Cup in front of 18,252 fans at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
And in last year’s Christmas day game, Ginebra registered a narrow 86-78 win over a Rondae Hollis-Jefferson-less TNT in their Commissioner’s Cup elimination round match.
