Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Usually, a loss like what Meralco suffered in Game 2 would make lesser mortals sulk and keep reliving the one that got away.
But not coach Norman Black. He’s been around the PBA long enough to see something good come out of such a painful defeat.
“I was actually happy at the way we got back in the game,” Black told reporters, minutes after the 82-79 setback that allowed Barangay Ginebra to knot their best-of-seven series for the Governors’ Cup at 1-all. “I thought we also played well.”
Game 2 is water under the bridge as far as Black is concerned, but Barangay Ginebra counterpart Tim Cone is wishing that the narrow win by the Gin Kings would be enough to snap the Bolts’ momentum.
Meralco was coming off a four-game winning streak before Sunday night, with the run capped by a 104-98 overtime win in the series opener just two nights before.
“I sure hope we did,” Cone said when asked if they had brought down the confidence of the Bolts. “In the big scheme of things, it’s a seven-game series and you can’t be elated. They won four games in a row. We had to dig very deep (to win Game 2). I don’t know if we broke their momentum already.”
Tip off for Game 3 is at 7 p.m. at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao today, and this could boil down to be the biggest game thus far in the young history of the Meralco franchise in the PBA.
“We actually lost that game on an offensive rebound by Sol Mercado,” Black said, referring to the 6-foot-1 guard’s putback that broke the game’s last tie at 79 and applied all the pressure on the Bolts on the other end.
“It could have gone either way,” Black said.
This game carries a lot of importance and Black could opt for more firepower with Jared Dillinger now available. Dillinger, who missed the final two games of the Bolts’ Final Four series with TNT KaTropa because of a hamstring pull, suited up for Game 2 but was kept in the freezer by Black.
Black is expected to do a lot of adjustments as far as giving import Allen Durham more open looks at the basket. In the thrilling Game 1 win, Durham exploded for 46 points—including the first seven in extra time—before being held to just 22 on Sunday.
It was also Mercado who did the defensive job on Durham in the series-tying win, making Cone declare him the MVP of the game.
“He has his disadvantages, because of his size,” Cone said of Mercado in his matchup with the bull-strong and athletic Durham. “Norman will do things and we will have to adjust to their adjustments. Now the ball is in their court. This series ping-pongs back and forth.”