MERALCO will have to play with their lives on the line come Game 2 against Barangay Ginebra or else they will be in big trouble in their PBA Governors’ Cup quarterfinals series.
Coach Luigi Trillo said the Bolts need to play with utter urgency on Saturday after a 99-92 loss in the opener of the best-of-five series Thursday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
“We’re fighting for our lives already if we’ll be down 2-0. So that’s it,” he said
Trillo lamented Meralco's inconsistency which saw it get outscored by the Gin Kings in the first and fourth quarters after coming their way back from 15 points down in the middle periods.
“You look at it, and I think we did well in the third quarter when we caught up,” stressed the Bolts mentor. “But in games like this, you can’t have those lapses. First quarter, fourth quarter, those are the things when they were able to score.”
Not like the last times
It’s the first time Trillo is playing Ginebra in a series as Meralco head coach and he pointed out that with the exception of Brownlee, the Bolts are actually playing a different Gin Kings team than the one they played and lost to in three previous finals showdowns.
“Brownlee is so used of playing with them, and it’s a different lineup with four guards,” said Trillo of the Ginebra guard rotation of Scottie Thompson, Maverick Ahanmisi, and rookie RJ Abarrientos.
“Japeth [Aguilar] played well also, they’re using [Raymond] Aguilar as the next guy and [Ralph] Cu also stepped up.”
Still, Trillo vowed Meralco will be a different team as well come the next game.
“We’ll watched the video, will get better, and it’s a series,” he said.
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