Layon ng TNT na patuloy na talunin ang Meralco sa playoff sa sa pagsisimula ng kanilang PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinals duel sa Ynares Center sa Antipolo sa Miyerkules.
Dahil sa nangungunang Best Import candidate na si Bol Manute Bol, paborito ang defending champions na Tropang 5G sa best-of-seven series.
“Obviously, they are deserving to make the finals and they are hard to beat in a seven-game series,” ani Meralco coach Luigi Trillo. “But with the way we are playing we deserve to be there, too.”
Pinatunayan ng Bolts na kaya nila ang matinding pagsubok matapos nilang mapigilan ang Magnolia Hotshots sa kanilang two-game quarterfinals duel na nagtapos sa 105-102 panalo sa overtime noong Sabado.
Sa panig ng TNT, dumaan din ito sa matinding laban bago nalampasan ang twice-to-win handicap laban sa kapatid na NLEX, kabilang ang 118-112 na panalo noon ding Sabado.
Inamin ni Tropa coach Chot Reyes na mas mahirap ang kanilang haharapin na laban ngayon kumpara sa huli nilang semifinals noong nakaraang Philippine Cup kung saan tinapos nila ang serye sa loob bg limang laro.
Nanalo ang Meralco, 110-106, sa laban nila noong Abril 7.
“That’s a complete team. They’re playing at a very high level. If you remember in our elimination round game tinambakan kami ng Meralco, right?” ani Reyes.
“They have so many offensive weapons that it’s incumbent upon us to, number one, defend well and rebound. They’re also one of the more physical teams in the league and you see how teams are playing Bol. So, we have to be able to cope with that and play through that.”
Ang pagpigil kay Bol ang tunay na pangunahing pokus ng Meralco sa depensa, lalo na’t may average ito na league-leading 37.64 puntos at 4.0 blocks bukod pa sa 14.50 rebounds kada gabi.
Naroon din sina Calvin Oftana, Roger Pogoy at Jayson Castro na pambato ng TNT.
Sa pangunguna nina Marvin Jones, Chris Newsome, CJ Cansino, Jason Brickman at Bong Quinto, hindi nababahala si Trillo.
“The longer the series lasts, we now have the depth to match up with their guards,” ani Trillo. “Obviously, Marvin does a little bit of the dirty work, everything, but there are other guys in the (previous) series, maybe their numbers weren’t called as much. But every series is different and I know they will be ready.”
Samantala, pasok na si Castro sa 10,000-point club.
Iginawad sa 39-anyos na beterano ang espesyal na plake bilang pinakabagong manlalaro sa 50-taong kasaysayan ng liga sa pagsisimula ng laban sa NLEX noong Sabado.