GINEBRA failed to send gritty Meralco home the last time out.
The Kings have another opportunity to advance to the Big Dance–although they will be on equal footing with the Bolts–and the country’s most popular ballclub has to do it in a rare out-of-town duel at a venue named after an endeared late movie star also known for his “Never-say-die” mantra.
In a knockout match, Ginebra takes on Meralco tonight in the deciding game of their best-of-7 semifinals showdown in the PBA Philippine Cup at the FPJ Arena in San Jose, Batangas.
The match is set at 7:30, with the winner gaining a slot in the race-to-4 finals opposite defending champion San Miguel Beer.
Bolts coach Luigi Trillo was understandably pleased with the grit his charges showed in an 86-81 victory over the Kings in Game 6 last Wednesday night that enabled them to force a rubber match.
“Sana kami naman. I said it’s not over and this is what we want, a Game 7,” Trillo said. “The game before (Game 5), I thought we also played well. We had a 15-point lead. We had a couple of breakdowns. But coach Nenad (Vucinic, consultant) preaches a lot of things and he doesn’t get a lot of recognition with the things he does.
“I thought we had a good game plan again. We were more solid all-around,” he added.
The likes of Bong Quinto, Cliff Hodge, Allein Maliksi, Chris Newsome, Raymond Almazan, and Chris Banchero are expected to rise to the occasion for Meralco.
