The Meralco Bolts foiled what would have been a fourth installment of the TNT Tropang 5G facing off against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters with a cardiac victory on the PBA’s last play date in 2025. Now, a new reality has dawned: the Bolts are even bigger underdogs against last season’s two-time champs.
And Luigi Trillo knows as much, admitting it to reporters in the days leading to the start of the PBA Philippine Cup semis, which will also see Barangay Ginebra San Miguel taking on the San Miguel Beermen in the other pairing.
“Hindi naman ako nagpapadehado. But if you look at TNT, aside from beating us, they’ve been in three straight finals. So, even without Rondae [Hollis-Jefferson], they were still in the finals. So that’s a testament to their toughness, their defensive toughness,” Trillo noted.
“You can say TNT has our number,” he admitted bluntly.
A Tale of Two Halves in First Encounter Between Meralco and TNT
Indeed, Trillo has a valid point. Aside from being two-time champs last season, TNT continues to be a stacked squad that has only gotten deeper and better with the off-season additions of Jio Jalalon and Kevin Ferrer. And, if the two teams’ lone clash in the eliminations is any indication, Trillo’s admission makes even more sense.
“In our last game, we played well in the first half, but that was in the first half. We allowed them to come back,” Trillo pointed out. “That’s on us. There’s a lot to be desired from us in this series,” said Trillo. “This is a new series, but we’re not happy just to be here. This road is gonna be hard. Again, that’s a challenge for us to overcome. I hope we’ll be ready for that.”
That game saw Meralco build as much as a 46–23 lead in the first half as Chris Newsome, CJ Cansino, and company fired on all cylinders. But the Tropa showed their championship pedigree, gradually getting back into the game before forcing overtime and eventually winning, 100–98, on Rey Nambatac’s game-winner.
But if that game proved TNT’s big-game gravitas, it also showed Meralco can compete against the league’s utmost elite. The Bolts will get another crack at it on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, when the two teams start their semis series.
(Relive TNT and Meralco’s eliminations showdown:)
