SAN Miguel Beer's last game made Don Trollano so frustrated that he vowed the same thing won't ever happen. Again.
Held scoreless and largely blamed when the Beermen lost to TNT the previous game, the 33-year old bounced back with 21 points in leading SMB to a runaway 111-92 win over Phoenix in the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup.
Trollano was aggressive from the get go, scoring five points in four minutes in the first quarter. He spearheaded the Beermen’s 34-21 second quarter that turned the game into a rout and ended up with his best output of the conference.
READ Trollano's fiery start sets tone for San Miguel rout of Phoenix
“Just played hard. Kailangan naming mag-step up kapag nag-struggle ‘yung first group. Ang mindset is just to win. We can’t afford to lose back-to-back games kasi ‘yung standings, dikit-dikit,” said Trollano, who is averaging 13 points per game.
When asked about his game against TNT, Trollano said he himself could not understand what went wrong.
“Hindi ko rin alam eh. Siguro I’m not playing hard. That’s it,” said Trollano. “Bad game ako last game so sobrang eager ako to bounce back ngayong game na ‘to. Nakuha ko naman."
Trollano’s redemption game rubbed off on the rest of the SMB bench, which after scoring just six against TNT tallied 46 points against Phoenix.
“I think it’s very obvious na from six points to 46 points, that’s a lot. Usually, we are relying on our bench because our bench can be starters, but they have to know na every player is very important.”
Defense also played a big part in the win, Trollano said.
“What is noticeable is ‘yung defense of our team. Although very physical nung first quarter because they played a good defensive game against us, but the team eventually adjusted and won handily."
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