COACH Norman Black paid tribute to the whole Meralco team for the Game Three win, but saved his best words for Cliff Hodge for his defensive effort.
Hodge was scoreless on Sunday night but made a bigger difference that what was reflected in the stat sheet as the Bolts put away an 83-74 win over Barangay Ginebra and a 2-1 lead in the PBA Governors' Cup Finals.
While Tony Bishop was the man for the Bolts offensively with 30 points and 16 rebounds, Hodge anchored the defense that slowed down Ginebra big guns Justin Brownlee and Christian Standhardinger.
“I guess even Tony will have to give a lot of credit to Cliff Hodge because he did a great job defensively tonight. If he will guard another five minutes, I don’t know whether he will finish the game,” said Black.
Energy bunny
Hodge was an energy bunny on the floor, finishing wirh six rebounds, one assist, two steals, and a block. More than that, he was a defensive lynchpin on the floor, especially in a stretch where he blocked a shot by Standhardinger then forced the Fil-German to commit an offensive foul on a fastbreak.
“He just gave everything he had on the basketball court today to try to slow down the Ginebra defense,” said Black.
Black said the Game Three win was the result of a collective effort from the Bolts on both ends of the floor.
“It’s just a matter of getting some stops and trying to hold on as long as we could. We did have some good offensive performances by Tony Bishop, played well offensively tonight and he rebounded very well for us.
"Chris Newsome scored a lot of points tonight and I thought he controlled the game offensively with his playmaking,” added Black. “Everybody made a big difference for us,” he added.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
