<\/p>\n
Marvin Jones, unable to hold the Bolts in Game 3, will step aside as Meralco brings in Patrick Gardner. \u2014PBA IMAGES<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Meralco coach Luigi Trillo has allowed the sting of the Bolts\u2019 Game 3 loss within the PBA Commissioner\u2019s Cup semifinals to settle.<\/p>\n
Now, he simply wants his team to forget what has happened, reset and even the series.<\/p>\n
\u201cI expect us to be higher,\u201d Trillo told the Inquirer on Tuesday over the phone. \u201cI expect us to shoot higher. I expect us to play higher. This can be a long series.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not over by an extended shot. This series is simply starting. We will\u2019t dwell an excessive amount of on Game 3. That\u2019s already water under the bridge.\u201d<\/p>\n
Forgetting won’t be that onerous.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a lot for Meralco to concentrate on, especially with the team bringing in a brand new import in 7-foot import Patrick Gardner, who previously played in Japan\u2019s B.League, after it became clear Marvin Jones wouldn\u2019t be enough to hold the Bolts to the Finals.<\/p>\n
Moving on from that Game 3 loss, nevertheless, won\u2019t be easy.<\/p>\n
Meralco, with its complete lineup intact, still absorbed a narrow 77-75 defeat to a TNT side that played without an import.<\/p>\n
But Trillo was hardly surprised by the Tropang 5G\u2019s ability to compete despite the absence of reinforcement, Bol Bol, who exited the conference early due to a partially torn Achilles tendon.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a reason why they\u2019re a championship team,\u201d Trillo said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a reason why those guys made back-to-back All-Filipino Finals. I warned before the sport that even without Bol Bol, this TNT team knows tips on how to play together.\u201d<\/p>\n
And now, the Bolts can have to cope with a reinforced Tropang 5G.<\/p>\n
TNT has tapped former NBA player Chris McCullough to interchange Bol after earlier exploring options that included Darius Days, Marquese Chriss and eventually Malick Diouf. The Senegalese standout from the UAAP, nevertheless, didn’t secure clearance in time to change into the league\u2019s first foreign student-athlete import.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a man who can really put the ball within the basket, so it\u2019s not going to be easy,\u201d Trillo said of McCullough. \u201cWe all know now we have our work cut out for us. It\u2019s something latest that now we have to arrange for.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all know McCullough is great in isolation. He\u2019s got an excellent offensive game, he\u2019s long and he\u2019s an excellent pickup by TNT.\u201d<\/p>\n
TNT\u2019s locals delivered when it mattered most in Game 3. Rey Nambatac led the Tropang 5G with 18 points and eight rebounds, while Calvin Oftana and Jordan Heading added 15 and 12 points, respectively.<\/p>\n
Roger Pogoy finished with only nine points, but he knocked down the game-winning shot that gave TNT a vital 2-1 series lead.<\/p>\n
The 2 teams clash anew on Wednesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum. INQ<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Marvin Jones, unable to hold the Bolts in Game 3, will step aside as Meralco brings in Patrick Gardner. \u2014PBA IMAGES Meralco coach Luigi Trillo has allowed the sting of the Bolts\u2019 Game 3 loss within the PBA Commissioner\u2019s Cup semifinals to settle. Now, he simply wants his team to forget what has happened, reset […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":341252,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[338],"tags":[1918,585,15665,3190,4255],"class_list":["post-341251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-bolts","tag-game","tag-imports","tag-tropang","tag-unveil"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=341251"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":341254,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341251\/revisions\/341254"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/341252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=341251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=341251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=341251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}