MERALCO coach Luigi Trillo said CJ Cansino should not be blamed for the Bolts’ loss to TNT in Game 5 that bumped the Bolts out of title contention in the PBA Philippine Cup.
Trillo pointed out that it was Cansino who gave the Bolts a chance to win Game 5 after he gallantly took over and scored 17 points in the fourth quarter.
READ Trillo not pinning blame on Cansino after his hero-to-goat moment
Cansino, however, committed a costly turnover when he was stripped by Jordan Heading that led to an uncontested lay-up and a 97-96 TNT lead.
Cansino scored a career-high 36 points but his efforts went for naught as the Bolts lost, 99-96.
But for Trillo, Cansino’s performance is something to be proud of and the turnover should not overshadow that.
“Extremely proud of CJ,” said Trillo. “He was the one guy that kept us in line. Guys were struggling so you go to someone else.
“And just the whole conference, he has really upped his game from last conference. He gained 20 pounds. He is a point of attack,” said Trillo.
Cansino nearly pulled Meralco to victory after it trailed, 19-4, to start Game 5. The Bolts were already without Chris Newsome, and later lost another player when Jansen Rios was taken out of the court in a wheelchair due to a knee injury in the third quarter.
“In the first half, we were down with CB (Chris Banchero) not being able to score on our points of attack and Bong [Quinto] missing. He (Cansino) came in and he did the damage there. So proud of our guys,” said Trillo.
Trillo said a bright future awaits Cansino based on his performance this conference.
“I think he is going to be the face (or) one of the faces of the PBA. Just a very humble guy. I think he has a lot of fans because of the way he carries himself. He got us back. We were down 10 in the fourth and we got the lead with him,” said Trillo.
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