MERALCO coach Luigi Trillo warned the Bolts must shape up if they want to get past Magnolia and advance to the semifinals of the PBA Commissioner's Cup.
The Bolts lost to the Hotshots, 93-79, last Sunday to end the eliminations. The defeat didn't have any bearing for the twice-to-beat advantage Bolts, but Trillo would've wanted to see the Bolts enter the playoffs with momentum.
“Very disappointed with the lack of effort from our guys with certain things we should be doing on the court,” said Trillo. “We don't deserve to be in the semifinals if we play like that. We allowed them to get to do whatever they wanted."
The 76-point production against Magnolia was the lowest for the Bolts this conference. Marvin Jones and Javee Mocon topscored for their team with 14 points each, but CJ Cansino, the team's leading scorer, was limited to 10 points.
Meralco also allowed Magnolia to shoot 43 percent from the field, with second stringers Paul Lee, Javi Gomez de Liano, and Ian Sangalang combining for 32 of the Hotshots' 47 bench points.
Incidentally, Meralco will be facing the same Magnolia squad, and a win would be enough for the Bolts to advance to the quarterfinals. But Trillo warned Magnolia will be tough to put aay with coach LA Tenorio pushing all the right buttons on their way to a three-game win streak to close the eliminations.
“Magnolia outplayed us. You have to give it to them. They did a very good job. Defensively, switching, showing, taking away certain things from us. They did a good job of hiding their weaknesses, too,” said Trillo.
“LA has done a great job and they have been responding the last few games. (Ian) Sangalang and Paul Lee played like vintage old form. They ate up whoever was on them defensively,” said Trillo.
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