MERALCO believes it has everything it needs to make the PBA 48th Season Philippine Cup finals competitive against San Miguel even though not many may agree with this assessment.
But the Bolts' confidence is not without merit. It is, after all, the only team which beat the Beermen, 95-92, during the elimination round when the two squad met out of town in Batangas City last May 4.
But head coach Luigi Trillo said he is not really putting too much significance into that result because the eliminations are a world apart from the finals.
The best-of-seven series starts on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“You can say that we’re the only team (in the eliminations) that beat them. But we don’t want to get cocky," Trillo said. "We don’t want to have any swagger. They can come in and just dominate us if lumaki ang ulo namin.”
Meralco active consultant Nenad Vucinic shared the sentiment, although beating Barangay Ginebra was definitely a boost to their confidence heading to the finals series against the defending champions.
“It’s regular season. Counts for nothing, really,” said Vucinic. “It’s a different ballgame.”
Another seven games?
Meralco won the series against Ginebra using a collective effort. The team got its usual contributions from Chris Newsome and Allein Maliksi, but received a huge boost from Chris Banchero (24 points) and Brandon Bates (13 rebounds, 6 blocks), especially in Game 7, with the latter two providing depth, hustle and energy which Meralco will need in the faceoff with San Miguel.
“Ginebra really made us work hard. We are better already, but they (San Miguel) are a very good team. Incredible talent coming off the bench as well. I think we developed that as well. We are confident of putting some guys in that didn’t play much in the past,” said Vucinic.
READ: 'Captain of the ship' Nenad deflects credit for Meralco’s breakthrough finals
The active consultant explained that to have a chance, Meralco must force the series to go the distance, just like their semifinal duel against the Gin Kings.
“We are going to try to make it a long series,” he said.
'We are not just happy to be in the finals'
It's important to remember, however, that while the Bolts had to go through a series that went all of seven games, San Miguel hardly worked a sweat in eliminating Rain or Shine, 4-0, their last game ending May 24. That means the Beermen will be coming off a 12-day break heading into the championship round.
Whether San Miguel will be rusty when the series start is unknown, but one can give Meralco a slight chance at an upset as it will be coming off a rigorous semifinal and therefore is fit and ready to go.
“We will come prepared," Trillo said. "We believe in these guys. I think we used a lot of players. It’s not like we used six or seven (players). San Miguel, we have a lot of respect for them. But we can match up with them," said Trillo.
At the same time, Meralco's mindset is not being happy just because it got into the finals.
“We are not happy just to be in the finals. It’s not going to mean anything unless we go all the way and win the title," Trillo said.
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