WHEN Meralco won the championship against San Miguel last season, perhaps the one that suffered the most emotionally was Don Trollano.
Trollano was the man that challenged the shot of Chris Newsome during the final seconds of Game Six of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals last June 16, 2024.
The Meralco star guard buried a corner jumper despite the defense put up by Trollano to lift the Bolts to an 80-78 victory at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
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Fast forward to Friday when Trollano finished with 19 points and six rebounds to help San Miguel oust Meralco and end the Bolts’ reign as all-Filipino champions with a 108-97 victory at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Trollano admitted he was haunted by the thought of giving up Newsome’s game-winner so he was glad to get some sort of redemption on Friday night.
'Hina-haunt ako'
“’Yung last shot ni Newsome, ako ‘yung nandoon eh,” Trollano recalled. "So parang hina-haunt ako nun eh, until now.”
“Buti ngayon, nakabawi na,” he added.
Trollano got off to a hot start on Friday, scoring eight of SMB’s 19 points in the first quarter off the bench. The San Miguel guard continued to be aggressive throughout the match, and ended up making seven of his 19 shots from the field.
But Trollano said what sparked his offense was the defense, especially since he was part of the second group whose job was to maintain the energy of the starters.
“Ang mindset talaga is just to be aggressive. Alam namin na second group kami, kapag pinasok kami, focus kami sa defense. And ‘yung offense naman, to follow, nagkakaroon ng rhythm at kumpiyansa,” said Trollano.
Trollano maintained his stellar play offensively after the eliminations that saw him place third in the team in scoring with 13 points a game behind June Mar Fajardo and Cjay Perez
“Sinusuklian ko lang ‘yung tiwala nila coach Leo [Austria], ‘yung mga coaches, management. Ayokong sayangin ‘yung tiwala nila,” said the 33-year-old Trollano.
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