The Meralco Bolts locked up a twice-to-beat advantage on Friday with a dominant 113-69 blowout of the Terrafirma Dyip. It was wire-to-wire for Meralco, who trailed 1-0 before racing out to a 37-20 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Impressively, the Bolts never took their foot off the gas—even with Terrafirma missing Mubashar Ali, sidelined due to food poisoning.
Has Meralco Learned Its Lesson?
The win was expected given the talent gap and Ali’s absence. Still, it was a step in the right direction for Meralco, who has wrestled all season with one glaring issue, particularly in this PBA Commissioner’s Cup: complacency.
“Nire-remind namin ‘yung isa’t isa na kelangan namin maging mas consistent kasi ‘yun ‘yun naging problem namin sa past games. Lumalamang kami ng first half, then after non, mahahabol kami kasi nagiging complacent kami,” CJ Cansino said after the Bolts’ eighth win in eleven games. “Sa paparating na playoffs, mas kelangan namin na kumbaga, wala kaming ibibigay na possession dahil mahirap kasi pag lumipat na ‘yung momentum. ‘Yun ang nagiging problem namin.”
Cansino nailed it. In two of their three losses—against the NLEX Road Warriors and San Miguel Beermen—the Bolts built leads as big as 17 points. Both times, they blew it. NLEX stole the win on a buzzer-beater, while San Miguel turned the tables and ran away with a blowout.
The Bolts’ other loss came against an importless Rain or Shine Elasto Painters. Even then, Meralco looked flat early, and Rain or Shine’s locals punished them for it.
No Room for Complacency in the Playoffs
With a twice-to-beat edge secured, Meralco has some margin for error in the quarterfinals. But that’s a dangerous way to think. No bottom-four team is an easy out—not even Charles Tiu’s vastly improved Phoenix Fuel Masters.
So yes, Cansino is right. He and the rest of the Bolts can’t afford to get complacent. Not if they want to make a deep run in the playoffs.
