MERALCO SEES THE LIGHT
After 14 long years, Bolts finally taste PBA success
Doubts were raised when Meralco kicked off the Philippine Cup of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) at the 11th spot with a woeful 3-5 win-loss record.
But the Bolts refused to lose hope. They kept their faith and played their hearts out until emerging as the last team standing following an 80-78 win over the mighty San Miguel Beer squad in Game 6 of their best-of-seven final series on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
It was a fairy-tale ending to a team that was searching for identity under a young coach, whose last title happened more than a decade ago.
Meralco coach Luigi Trillo couldn’t help but smile as he recalled the “funny” turn of events.
“It’s funny because in 2013, it was the last championship we won in Alaska. We swept Ginebra, 3-0, and now we beat San Miguel, which is a tough team. My heart is full right now,” said Trillo, who was just 37 years old when he clinched his first PBA title with the defunct Alaska squad in the Commissioner’s Cup of 2013.
“At one point, we were in 11th place at 3-5 with three games to go and we still found a way to gut it out. Those things matter. This is just one of those championships we will always remember.”
But if there is somebody capable of rallying the Bolts from the cellar up to the title, it’s definitely Trillo.
Learning at the feet of the league’s winningest mentor in Tim Cone, Trillo collected six PBA titles both as assistant coach and head coach.
Trillo said winning the crown with the Bolts is definitely the sweetest as they clawed their way out of the dark basement before shocking a powerhouse squad to clinch their first title since acquiring the franchise of Sta. Lucia Realty in 2010.
On their way to the top, the Bolts made four finals appearances, where they lost to San Miguel’s sister team — Barangay Ginebra — coached by his former mentor in Cone with Justin Brownlee as reinforcement.
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Trillo said the longer the wait, the sweeter the
“I had four with him (Tim Cone) and one in 2013 but this one is special because I had to wait for this. I’ve been to five finals and we finally won one so it’s still surreal,” Trillo said.
True enough, Meralco’s climb to the top wasn’t easy.
After finishing the eliminations with a 6-5 win-loss card, the Bolts swept NLEX in the quarterfinals to gain the right to face their old rival in Ginebra in the best-ofseven semifinal series.
The Bolts refused to get intimidated as they fought tooth and nail until slaying the Kings in seven games.
In the finals, the battle got even tougher as the Beermen, powered by seven-time Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo with a solid cast of support crew in Mo Tautuaa, CJ Perez, Terrence Romeo and Marcio Lassiter, refused to quit by coming up with the right adjustments every time they fall behind.
In fact, just when the Bolts were poised to win the title with a 78-75 lead in the crucial stretch of the fourth period of Game 6, Fajardo knocked down a clutch three-pointer with only 3.3 seconds left.
But Banchero found a streaking Chris Newsome, who nailed a fadeaway jumper for a two-point cushion, 80-78.
The Beermen tried to go to Lassiter for the final shot but he was heavily-guarded, prompting Fajardo to shoot a potential gamewinning trey that just bounced off the rim.
Newsome said like his title-clinching shot, their victory wasn’t a miracle: It was the outcome of hard work and determination to beat the most successful franchise in the league’s biggest stage.
“For a lot of guys out there, it may seem like a lucky shot. But at the same time, it’s something that I work on every day,” said Newsome, who couldn’t hide his happiness now that Meralco saw the light of victory.
“I’ve learned from all my failures. I’ve failed against Ginebra plenty of times in the Finals, and it’s those failures that allowed me to push and elevate my game and to work on those things that I felt like I needed to work on and you saw it pay off today.”
Cliff Hodge, for his part, credited their mental toughness and trust on each other.
“It was just a lot of trust and thinking about the next play. All that hard work paid off eventually,” said the 36-year-old Hodge, who has been with the Bolts since 2012.