CAN Meralco pull off an ace up its sleeve anew against a San Miguel Beer side that is down but not out?
Bolts coach Norman Black certainly hopes so.
“It’s hard to keep them down. They’re a very good team. I know that they’re going to make adjustments going into Game 7. We also have to make some adjustments and not really react to them anymore because it will be the last game,” Black said. “The Ginebra game (in the knockout quarterfinals) was a two-point win for us. It’s not gonna be easier against San Miguel.
“Coach Leo (Austria) has been doing a good job on making adjustments every time they lose and try to anticipate what they’re going to do and at the same time have a few adjustments of our own so we can stay a step ahead and hopefully get a victory,” he added.
Meralco takes on SMB tonight in Game 7 of their best-of-7 semifinals duel in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The no-tomorrow match is set at 6 p.m., with the winner advancing to the race-to-four finals opposite defending champion TNT.
The Tropang Giga bundled out Magnolia 4-2 in their semis battle last Sunday to gain the first slot in the Big Dance that kicks off tentatively on Sunday at a venue yet to be announced by the pro league.
The Bolts forged the deciding game, thanks to a gutsy 96-92 victory over the shellshocked Beermen who squandered a 10-point lead late in the fourth quarter in Game 6 last Sunday.
Bidding to reach the finals of the import-less tourney for the first time in the ball club’s history, Meralco will count on the likes of Chris Newsome, Aaron Black, Allein Maliksi, Cliff Hodge, Bong Quinto, Raymond Almazan, and Chris Banchero.
Aaron Black, who played the hero’s role for the Bolts the last time out after scoring the team’s last 11 points that completed their fightback, said team effort boosted his brilliance.
“I think in the Meralco family, we like to do things as a team,” he said. “Without them, I wouldn’t have been able to do that for our team.”
But fancied SMB is sure to be as determined as Meralco— the Beermen have yet to make the finals of the tilt they used to win from 2015 to 2019.
Prized center June Mar Fajardo, CJ Perez, Vic Manuel, Marcio Lassiter, Jericho Cruz, and Chris Ross are expected to lead the Beermen’s charge.
