Meralco assistant coach Luigi Trillo. (Photo: Rappler)
MERALCO needs to perk up its confidence as it faces dangerous Barangay Ginebra today in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA)’s Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City.
Once again, Ginebra’s path to the crown is blocked by Bolts but the ‘never-say-die’ team’s coach Tim Cone wants the Gin Kings to leave the past behind as they prepare for a vigorous clash with Meralco.
“We’re trying to play them as if we have no history with them,” the Gin Kings mentor on the eve of their clash with the Bolts even as basketball fans enthuse that would be a strange tactic indeed since in looking back, there had been memorable Ginebra-Meralco duels in the past and most of them had been one by Barangay Ginebra. Still, Tim Cone is known for never laying down an easy path for his boys.
“We don’t want to fall into old patterns with them because they’ve evolved as a team,” the grand slam coach pointed out. “What we’ve done in the past with them won’t be good enough now, (so) we need to understand that and take a fresh approach to the series,” he added.
Over the years, Meralco has truly proven to be a resilient team that, despite being on the losing end in its showdowns with Ginebra, has always managed to rejuvenate its confidence in the face of insurmountable odds.
This could be truer this time as Meralco assistant coach Luigi Trillo claims his team knows they have the pieces but still think nothing better for them than to be in the type of atmosphere that can beat the odds.
Much of that optimism is built from Meralco’s recent strides in the All-Filipino, which brought them to the Final Four twice in the last two editions of the tournament.
And then there is the fact that the Bolts also handily beat the crowd darlings, 90-73, in their elimination round contest.
