Bolts feel ready for crucial grind in two leagues

The Meralco Bolts could hardly celebrate the holiday season because of a densely packed calendar.

And while coach Luigi Trillo admitted it was tough navigating around a frenetic schedule, he feels that his squad could snare something valuable off of it—one that should come in handy a few weeks from now.

“You know, it’s both good and bad,” he told the Inquirer over the phone. “The bad is, obviously there’s a lot of sacrifice [required from everyone]. But if you look at the good, we’re playing quality games.”

After battling defending champion Barangay Ginebra on Dec. 22, Meralco took on the visiting Seoul SK Knights here in Manila five days later for the East Asia Super League’s home-and-away showcase.

The Bolts will then face NBA champion Jeremy Lin and the unbeaten New Taipei Kings on Jan. 3, again in the EASL, before having to quickly shift their sights back to PBA Commissioner’s Cup where they tangle with leader Magnolia on Jan. 6 and then No. 2 Phoenix in a pair of contests that will shape the race for twice-to-beat protection in the knockout rounds.

“Our last games were against high-level teams. Ginebra and then SK. Now Taipei. Those are champion if not championship-worthy teams, so it kind of gets us sharp,” said Trillo, whose charges are No. 3 in the PBA conference at 6-2 and a strong contender for that playoff bonus.

“Now, it’s all about getting ready. Playoff basketball is upon us. There are a lot of things that could still happen, but we’ve [set our sights] on having to win at least two of our next three (games).”

Meralco has been plotting heavily for the key PBA games ahead, and it would be interesting to see whether high-scoring but severely undersized import Zach Lofton will remain as the club’s import moving forward.

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MISS OR MAKE

The Bolts have never made the championship series of the Commissioner’s Cup, but this current batch is making a strong case to change that.

Curiously, Trillo is also one of three active PBA coaches to steer his club to a championship here in the past decade.

But those trivia are the farthest from the minds of anyone in the Bolts’ quarters.

“At this point, we just want to be consistent for the playoffs. This month has been about playing our best,” Trillo said. INQ