Meralco Bolts' Aaron Black greets Bong Quinto at the PBA Philippine Cup. –PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines – Meralco's Aaron Black admitted that the Bolts were more enthusiastic than usual in their most recent victory over Phoenix in the PBA Philippine Cup.
With the playoff race becoming tighter, the Bolts boosted their chances of reaching the quarterfinals after defeating the Fuel Masters, 82-76, at Araneta Coliseum on Friday.
But increasing their chances in the playoffs is just one of the reasons why Meralco played even more motivated.
READ: PBA: Meralco fans hopes in playoffs after defeating Phoenix
Black has not forgotten the pain caused by coach Jamike Jarin's pupils a conference ago.
“Of course, we talk about it as additional motivation before the game. We understand that they were the ones who eliminated us in the last conference and that always hurts”, said the point guard after dropping 18 points, four rebounds and four assists in the victory.
“You bring that into a game like this where it's a matter of life and death for both of us, we really wanted to squeeze out all the motivation we could, but our number one priority today is keeping our playoff hopes alive.”
Phoenix kicked Meralco a few months ago in the two-game PBA Commissioner's Cup quarterfinals.
TO READ: PBA: Phoenix wins spot in last semifinal and shuts down Meralco
With a two-fold lead, the Fuel Masters lost to the Bolts in the first game, only to be taken by Conference Top Import Johnathan Williams III to the semifinals in the next game.
Even coach Luigi Trillo recognized Meralco's great motivation before facing Phoenix.
“We're all about the Xs and Os, I really made a point to remind them how good Phoenix is these days. They kicked us and we reached the final decisive game. Things didn’t go our way and you remember those things,” Trillo said.
The coach, however, downplayed the victory a little by reiterating that Phoenix did not have the same squad as it had in the previous conference.
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“Then again, at the moment they don't have (Tyler) Tio, they don't have the best imported Williams, we know what we're made of and we had to bring him in.”
