The Meralco Bolts lived to fight another day in the PBA Philippine Cup thanks to their 96–79 victory over the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters on Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. But while it was a double-digit rout, Meralco coach Luigi Trillo said he and his team aren’t entirely satisfied with the win—not with the way the Bolts finished the game.
After erecting a massive 56–22 lead in the second quarter, Rain or Shine picked things up and started playing better, ultimately outscoring Meralco, 57–40, and even getting to within 84–72. And even though the Elasto Painters lost steam in the end, that second-half surge, where Rain or Shine outscored the Bolts, 45–38, did not particularly sit well with Trillo.
“Rain or Shine is a tough team… They won that third quarter. It’s not gonna be easy for us,” Trillo said in the postgame presser in the wake of Meralco’s big win. “We weren’t satisfied with the way that second half went. They kind of do well when they have those small lineups where they’re physical, and they almost came back. We might’ve won this game, but there’s a lot of things we want to clean up.”
It turns out Trillo knows exactly what Meralco needs to work on.
Meralco Looking to Clean Up Defense
Trillo, in particular, rued how much Rain or Shine guards Adrian Nocum and Gian Mamuyac got to the heart of the Bolts’ defense, alternately scoring and creating opportunities for other Elasto Painters. And afterward, Trillo acknowledged that some of his players will need to step up on the defensive side of things—something “magic bunot” Jansen Rios did on Saturday.
“This is not gonna come easy. Laking bunot kay Jansen,” Trillo said before throwing a subtle jab at his team. “I can say this: Some of our guys play a lot of good offense, but we need some of those guys who can play D. Jansen is one of those guys. He puts his hard hat on, always ready to play. And he came up big. Made some shots, got some steals. Really happy for him the way he played today.”
Indeed, Rios got his hands dirty on defense, grabbing 5 rebounds and notching 4 steals to go along with his 12 points. And with Trillo emphasizing defense, Rios might get his number called yet again on Monday when the Bolts look to win a second time and advance to the semis.
