The Meralco Bolts and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel are modern-day rivals. Their quarterfinals best-of-three duel is the 10th time they are meeting in the playoffs since 2016, with Ginebra winning seven of the previous nine.
These repeating clashes only mean one thing: The main players—those who have played in many of these high-intensity, high-stakes showdowns—are getting familiar with one another already. They know the plays being run, the strategies being employed, the adjustments being made.
In short, there are pretty much no more surprises between these two proud franchises.
Scottie Thompson, who delivered 23 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 5 steals in Ginebra’s Game 1 win over Meralco on Wednesday, knows that all too well. After all, he has been part of every Meralco-Ginebra series since 2016—coincidentally, the year he and Bolts guard Chris Newsome came to the PBA.
Execution Will Be a Deciding Factor in Meralco-Ginebra Tussle
Thompson admitted as much after Ginebra’s crucial Game 1 win, telling reporters after the game that familiarity really is setting in between the two teams. Because of this, he said, execution will be at a premium in this series, which Ginebra could end on Friday with another victory.
“Nagkaka-amuyan na talaga. Medyo alam na namin ‘yung players’ tendencies,” said Thompson. “It’s up nalang sa amin kung paano namin i-execute ‘yung game plan kasi anjan naman na lahat, so ‘yun nalang ‘yung key kung paano namin i-execute—especially sa defense ng Meralco na sobrang aggressive at physical.”
Indeed, Meralco played its usual rough-and-tumble defense on Ginebra. That defense was especially tight in the first six minutes of the fourth quarter when the Bolts took an 87-85 lead after falling behind 29-17 early in the first half.
But Ginebra answered back with a 13-7 windup, executing just well enough to outwit the Bolts to take Game 1. The crowd darlings will need more of that on Friday if they are to book another semis seat.
But best believe Meralco will do the same.
