MERALCO is one loss away from being ousted from its title defense of the PBA Philippine Cup.
Ironically, the Bolts will have to overcome the same opponent that they beat last season twice in order for their championship retention bid to be extended.
Meralco coach Luigi Trillo knows the tough task ahead as the Bolts battle a San Miguel Beermen team hungry to get back to the championship after placing runners-up in the aforementioned Philippine Cup, and missing the playoffs of the Commissioner’s Cup last conference.
READ: Fajardo frontrunner for Best Player of the Conference once more
“The tables are turned now. They’re the hungry team. They really haven’t had any championships recently. Coach Leo (Austria) knows these guys in and out. He brings that sense of calm for them. They know how to manage their roles now,” Trillo told SPIN.ph on the eve of the game scheduled on Friday, 5 p.m. at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
“It’s a knockout game for us. We lose, we die, we are out. We are just looking to fight another day,” he added.
Don't count out Meralco just yet
Meralco could be the most dangerous eight-seed in recent time, being a regular playoff team over the years. The Bolts, however, haven’t advanced to the semifinals this season.
As proven in the 2024 Philippine Cup finals, Trillo knows his team is capable of beating San Miguel. But this quarterfinals series is a different animal as they need to do it in successive times, being the lower-seeded team with a twice-to-win disadvantage.
“In a seven-game series, you have to win back-to-back to win. All these teams below (in this conference’s playoffs) are capable of upsetting the top four teams because of the history of those teams," he said.
"TNT won back-to-back championship. We’ve been down in the series and we’ve won. And then just the consistency on us to be in the semis. I think the last 10 conferences, we’ve been to eight or seven semifinals. That’s in the top four," he continued. “But we know enough to get it done, it takes two games and you need to be solid.
The Bolts lost to the Beermen, 110-98, last April 9 during the 50th year anniversary game at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum, and Trillo said that they need to play better this time around after June Mar Fajardo dominated with 28 points and 10 rebounds.
Cjay Perez also had 17 points in that contest.
“The first time we played them this conference, ang daming distractions namin noon and we didn’t do well in the first half. The energy of San Miguel in that game was different. June Mar, off the court, is the nicest, humblest guy. But on the court, he was a bully, he really dominated inside, he played to his strengths," Trillo shared.
"We can’t allow them to play to their strengths where June Mar is dominant inside, and they are hitting their threes, and getting to the lane like si Cjay."
Coach Luigi likes the energy of the Bolts
Meralco is fresh from its stint in the Basketball Champions League Asia in Dubai where the Bolts made it to the quarterfinals. Their last PBA game was last May 30 in an 82-73 win over Barangay Ginebra.
Trillo said there were no signs of weariness from the team in the days leading up to the San Miguel game.
“When we came back, we have time to practice. ‘Yung jetlag nawala. The practice yesterday, the energy was there. We are used to this type of situation because of the EASL,” said Trillo.
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