Meralco has huge task ahead in quarterfinals
Meralco made it back to the PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals more than two weeks back. It was the first step the Bolts needed to take for a successful PBA Philippine Cup title defense, never mind if they need to beat the top-ranked team two straight times to advance.
The Bolts aren’t looking for sympathy. Neither are they seeking excuses. They have been looking ahead, priming for the opportunity to prove they are worthy of staying atop.
“It’s a good opportunity for us to come together and achieve the semis even with a twice-to-beat disadvantage,” Luigi Trillo told the Inquirer on Sunday as he reflected on the 6-5 win-loss record that earned his crew the eighth seed, the lowest in the playoff draw.
The Bolts will face San Miguel, the proverbial bar for excellence in the season’s crown jewel, in the quarterfinals set next week.
While that squad is going to be quite the assignment, Trillo believes hurdling a foe of such caliber is not impossible, thanks mainly to a head of steam they built in a rather challenging tournament that had the club also represent the Philippines in BCL Asia.
Been there, done that
“We knew [this campaign was going to be] hard, as BCL Asia was a distraction from the PBA, having to separate our teams by leaving seven guys here [in Manila],” he said.
Meralco has seen this plot before. The club, fortunately, knows a thing or two about navigating adversity, having gone through multiple contenders, like, incidentally, the Road Warriors and the Beermen en route to last season’s historic run-up to the crown.
The Bolts could have crumbled under the weight of a fractured rotation and limited preparation time this conference. Instead, they chose to rally—relying on their chemistry and the same grit that fueled last season’s title run.
But more importantly, Trillo and the rest of his charges already know what it takes to complete such a steep climb.
“It will take a lot of determination and hard work,” Trillo said.
