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UNRELENTING PRESSURE
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HIS Alaska crew may have drawn first blood against Meralco in their PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinal duel, but coach Luigi Trillo is not about to allow his charges to let up.
Especially Friday, when the Bolts are promising to go all-out and level the best-of-three series at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“We are upbeat. We know we are still in control of our destiny. No-tomorrow for us. We will leave everything on the floor,” stated Meralco coach Ryan Gregorio.
That is exactly what Trillo has braced his Aces for.
“We know that in a best-of-three one win is nothing,” said Trillo shortly after Alaska’s 90-84 win in the series opener last Wednesday. “We did our job today, but we need to get back tomorrow and plan for Game Two.”
There are some things Alaska can build on, which are practically the same things Meralco should make adjustments to.
As is their wont, the Aces more often than not pounced on the Bolts’ turnovers and squeezed 19 points off 18 total miscues. Also, despite being among the last in the league in terms of rebounding, they managed to match the Bolts’ 34-board output through three quarters.
Offense was of little concern for Trillo.
Cyrus Baguio not only gave Alaska the big start they wanted but also provided sustaining fire. He scored 10 points in the first quarter, which the Aces opened up with a 14-0 lead, and wound up with a personal conference-high 26 points, highlighted by a triple that helped make it a 69-47 game.
Gabby Espinas also was great with 19 points, picking up the slack for Calvin Abueva, who was limited to just six points, three rebounds in just 15 minutes of action before fouling out with still 9:46 to go.
Tony de la Cruz and Sonny Thoss also chipped in their ample share.
“We were outplayed, that is the bottom line. We had a bad start and we played catch-up basketball all game long,” said Gregorio.
“No excuses,” he added. “Alaska came in prepared. They took advantage of mismatches and we did not have a solution. Baguio was in sync while Espinas was in a groove. We grounded Abueva but the others exploded.”
Meralco has its own upsides.
The Bolts finally put their acts together and, no matter how late, staged a major uprising in the fourth quarter through their trademark offensive rebounding. They hauled down 21 of their 55 boards in the final canto, 11 of those off the offensive boards.
Sol Mercado played on despite a sprain he suffered in Meralco’s last eliminations game last Sunday and still wound up with 22 points and six assists.
“We’re lucky Sol is coming off a sprain,” admitted Trillo. “He wasn’t the same Mercado he normally is.”
And then there is the the kind of defensive pressure Meralco can apply.
“The way Meralco puts a lot of pressure, with its man-to-man, 2-2-1 (defense)… they try to dictate the tempo that way,” noted Trillo. (NC)
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