Mixers, Bolts break 1-1 tie tomorrow

Blame it on fatigue.

San Mig Coffee coach Tim Cone offered this excuse after his highly fancied Mixers fell into a 1-1 tie with dark horse Meralco in their best-of-five Final Four series in the PBA Governors’ Cup.

“No doubt, we came out flat as a board in Game 2,” Cone said after his Mixers absorbed  a 73-69 loss to the over-achieving Bolts Tuesday night at Smart Araneta Coliseum. “Likely because that was our fourth playoff game in seven days.”

Cone and his Mixers will get the rest they want today, before plunging back into action tomorrow also at the Big Dome in Cubao.

“Now with the extra day, it will give us a chance to recharge our batteries both physically and mentally,” Cone said.

Recharged though they may be, there’s still no doubt that Meralco will have the psychological edge going into that crucial game.

The Bolts held the Mixers to their tournament-low output—the second lowest point total by any team in the tournament—by applying a defensive blanket that challenged practically every San Mig shot.

So unforgiving was the Meralco defense that Marc Pingris and Joe Devance, usual heavy contributors and big performers in an 83-73 Game 1 win on Sunday, were both held scoreless.

“We prepared perfectly for a situation like this. It’s going to be a grind with both teams putting emphasis on defense,” Meralco coach Ryan Gregorio said. “We held them below 70 (points) and it spoke well of our desire to play ‘D.”

“It will favor us if it’s a low-scoring game simply because they have a lot more offensive arsenal than us. They came out flat and we pounced on it,” Gregorio said.

Both teams are actually playing great defense with San Mig forcing Meralco import Mario West to an atrocious 8-of-36 shooting from the field Tuesday night.

The difference was that Meralco—despite being the shorter team—had a 20-9 advantage off the offensive glass and a 10-0 edge on transition points.

Incidentally, that victory was the first for the Meralco franchise in a Final Four series. The Bolts entered the league three years ago and had a franchise-best fifth place finish.