PBA OUTLOOK Ni EDDIE ALINEA
GAYA ng mga nakalipas na PBA conference sa mga nagdaang seasons, mga koponan ng RSA (Ramon S. Ang) Group at karibal nitong MVP (Manny V. Pangilinan) Group ang nakapasok sa semifinals ng 47th PBA Philippine Cup.
Tig-dalawang team ang RSA: San Miguel Beermen at Magnolia Hotshots; at MVP: TNT Tropang Giga at Meralco Bolts. Makakaharap ng top seeded Beermen ang Bolts, habang ang second seed Tropang Giga ay Hotshots ang makakatapat.
Walang hirap na nakausad pareho sa semis ang SMB at TNT dulot ng pagkakaroon ng twice-to-beat advantage. Samantala, kapwa kinailangang dumaan sa decider Game 3 ng Meralco laban sa Barangay Ginebra, at Magnolia kontra NLEX Road Warriors.
Kumpleto sa aksyon at drama ang huling araw ng quarterfinal round noong Linggo sa Mall of Asia Arena. Umabot sa OT ang game sa pagitan ng Hotshots at Road Warriors, bago nasiguro ng una ang 112-106 panalo. Ngunit hinigitan pa ito ng Gin Kings at Bolts, pansamantalang hinawakan ni assistant coach Luigi Trillo habang nasa Amerika si head coach Norman Black bunga ng pagpanaw ng kanyang ina.
Dikit ang iskor, 106-104, sa pagtatapos ng game kung kailan unang beses tinalo ng Meralco ang Ginebra ni coach Tim Cone sa loob ng anim na beses sa PBA playoffs mula noong 2015-2016 season. Salamat sa three-point shot ni Raymond Almazan isang minuto na lang ang nalalabi sa laro, nagwagi rin ang Bolts.
“We just proved that if you’re relentless, good things will happen,” wika ni Meralco team captain Chris Newsome matapos ang makapigil-hiningang laro.
“It’s nice to have that monkey off our back and we can finally move forward and enjoy the win, enjoy everything that we’ve built up until this point,” sabi naman ni coach Luigi. “We were their favorite whipping boys. We lost five. I’m just so proud of our team. This guy over here (Newsome), he’s our captain. He led us. We knew they would make a run, and we stuck together. It was good that we got the lead early. We just had to hold it out. It’s hard when you’re down against Ginebra.”
Para naman kay Newsome: “Coach Luigi, he’s very experienced. A lot of people forget that he’s been in the league a long time. He has a lot of basketball knowledge, and the thing that I admire about him is that he has an open ear. He’s willing to listen to players, he’s willing to listen to coaches and everyone’s opinions and how we can do this together as a collective. I think that’s very important, to reach out to the players and understand what they see.”
Ang triple ni “Rocke N Roll” Almazan ay kaisa-isa niyang attempt mula three-point arc sa Game 3. At ginawa niya ito ng walang pag-aatubili mula sa assist ni Newsome.
“New (Newsome) has faith in Raymond… Raymond was struggling a bit at the start. We practiced that shot. Raymond can hit that shot. Everyone played well, but it took that shot by Raymond to finally get the monkey off our back. It’s probably the greatest shot of Raymond’s career,” sambit ng Meralco coach.
“It might be,” pagsang-ayon ni Newsome. “It was a great moment for him. But again, it was a complete team effort that got us this win today. That was a huge shot, but you gotta tip your hat to guys like Alvin Pasaol, guys like Kyle Pascual… but of course a special shoutout to Raymond for hitting that shot. Big time. Let’s rock and roll, baby.”
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