THE higher-seeded teams prevailed to kick off the PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals series Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
No. 3 Meralco endured the hot-shooting hands of Robert Bolick to hammer out a 97-93 comeback win over sixth seed NLEX.
Fourth seed TNT meanwhile, leaned on the trio of Calvin Oftana, Roger Pogoy, and Kelly Williams to pull away in the fourth quarter of a 116-99 win over no. 5 Rain or Shine.
The Tropang Giga and Bolts will try to close their separate best-of-three series on Sunday when the games shift at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
Here are just some of the takeaways in the opener of the all-Filipino Cup playoffs.
BOLICK NEEDS HELP
The NLEX gunner erupted for a career-high 48 points, but the output obviously weren’t enough as the Road Warriors still lost out to the Bolts. The discrepancy in scoring was obvious. Only big man Mike Miranda was the other NLEX player in double figures outside of Bolick with 14 points – after averaging just 5.7 points in the eliminations. Anthony Semerad, Robbie Herndon, Enoch Valdez, and veteran Sean Anthony were all held below their usual averages, leaving Bolick to almost singlehandedly carry the team on his shoulders. The hotshot guard out of San Beda clearly needs a ton of support if the Road Warriors would turn the series around.
CALL THEM THE ‘AMIGOS’
TNT boasts of an explosive combination at the wings in Calvin Oftana and Roger Pogoy. Oftana finished with 32 and Pogoy with 26 as they accounted for half of the team’s total output. Oftana said they call their duo the ‘Amigos’ or friend, noting both of them came from the South. But while the duo can shoot the lights out at any given night, still that doesn’t guarantee a win for the Tropang Giga, as noted by coach Chot Reyes. ‘Both of them scoring are not enough. In as much as we love their offensive efficiency, it’s not enough to make us win unless others do their roles as well.’
TNT DEFENSE WORKED WELL AGAINST BELGA
Belga who has a career reboot this season was held to just five points – on 2-of-10 shooting – by the Tropang Giga’s defense and kept him from doing other things for the Elasto Painters in their quarterfinals series. The 37-year-old big man is considered by coach Chot as the ‘heart and soul’ of Rain or Shine and by controlling him, Reyes said it increases his team’s chances of winning. That’s what TNT did on its way to taking a 1-0 headstart in their playoffs series.
BOLTS NOT JUST A NEWSOME TEAM
Even with Newsome not as active offensively, Meralco still managed to eke a win by rallying past the Road Warriors. Allein Maliksi was the helm of the Bolts’ offensive plays, notching 22 big points, while getting a lot of support from Raymond Almazan (15 points), Chris Bancheo (12), Bong Quinto (11), and the surprising Anjo Caram (14), who took over the spot of the injured Aaron Black and shot a perfect 4-of-4 from beyond the arc. Newsome had 12 points, seven rebounds, and six assists as he doesn’t need to do it all for Meralco to move a win away from advancing to the semis.
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