Bolts ‘mean business,’ says Newsome
Being the only undefeated team so far in the 2016 PBA Commissioner’s Cup, Meralco sure is riding at an all-time high after its fifth win, a 96-88 conquest of GlobalPort on Sunday.
And for Chris Newsome, the win is another step for the Bolts in erasing the bitter memories of last conference.
“It’s a big boost for us,” he said. “I always say that our failures from last conference are lessened for this conference. A lot of those close games are the ones we lost last conference. Now, we kind of learned how to adjust and fix those mistakes so that doesn’t happen again. And as you can see, we’re having a better outcome this conference.”
Personally, Newsome has also adjusted well after a conference under his belt.
“I’m feeling more comfortable,” he said. “My teammates are doing a good job in helping me adjust.”
“They’re encouraging me to take shots when I’m open, what shots are good shots. Situations where they’re telling me to go get the ball and run a high pick-and-roll. Them having a confidence in me, that helps myself in building my own confidence.”
Despite the five-game run, Newsome still harped on the points of improvement for the Bolts.
“We can still improve on our defense. There’s a lot of miscues that we did tonight, some of them which could’ve cost us the game, but we’re fortunate enough to have the lucky breaks,” he said. “I feel like we could cut down on the second chance points and also, we can always improve in our offense and getting looks.”
He also pointed out Meralco’s advantage on having an Arinze Onuaku down low.
“Right now, Arinze is our key player, so we need to get it to him and play off him. We just have to try to figure out the looks we could get him and how everybody could be ready to help,” he said.
But make no mistake, Newsome believes this Meralco stretch is no fluke.
“After last conference, we had the early exit, some guys could’ve went home and took the break but right after that, we’re back in the gym working on our game,” he said.
“We definitely mean business.”
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