Meralco Bolts won the title of the 1st stage of the 3rd season of the PBA 3×3. –PBA IMAGES
The Meralco Bolts could hardly celebrate the holiday season because of a packed schedule.
And although coach Luigi Trillo admitted it was difficult to cope with a hectic schedule, he feels his team could get something valuable out of it – something that should come in handy a few weeks from now.
“You know, it’s good and bad,” he told the Inquirer over the phone. “The bad thing is that there is obviously a lot of sacrifice (required from everyone). But if you look on the bright side, we are playing quality games.”
After facing defending champion Barangay Ginebra on December 22, Meralco faced visiting Seoul SK Knights here in Manila five days later for the home-and-away game of the East Asian Super League.
The Bolts will then face NBA champion Jeremy Lin and the undefeated New Taipei Kings on January 3, again in the EASL, before having to quickly return to the PBA Commissioner's Cup, where they will face leader Magnolia on January 6 and then No. .2 Phoenix in two contests that will shape the race for double protection in the playoffs.
“Our last games were against high-level teams. Ginebra and then SK. Now Taipei. These are championship teams, if not championship worthy, so that keeps us sharp,” said Trillo, whose charges are third in the PBA conference at 6-2 and a strong contender for the playoff bonus.
“Now it’s all about preparation. Playoff basketball is coming. There are a lot of things that can still happen, but we have (our goal) to win at least two of our next three (games).
Meralco has been planning heavily for the upcoming major PBA games, and it would be interesting to see if high-scoring but very undersized import Zach Lofton will remain as the club's import in the future.
The Bolts have never reached the Commissioner's Cup championship series, but the current lot makes a strong case to change that.
Interestingly, Trillo is also one of three active PBA coaches who have guided their club to a championship here in the last decade.
But these curiosities are further from the minds of anyone in the Bolts' neighborhood.
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“Right now, we just want to be consistent for the playoffs. This month was about playing our best,” Trillo said. INQ
