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Both Jared Dillinger and Allen Durham have been under the bright lights of the PBA Finals.
Dillinger is a proud owner of five PBA championships while Durham was the defender of Justin Brownlee in what became arguably the biggest shot in Ginebra’s championship history.
While they have enough finals experience between them, both players will still look up to six-time champion Ranidel De Ocampo once the 2017 PBA Governors’ Cup finals roll in.
“He’s a huge addition,” said Durham of the veteran forward Thursday after the Bolts clinched the Finals berth with a 91-88 win over Star in Game 3 at Smart Araneta Coliseum .
“You guys saw we struggled a little bit and then Ranidel came and hit a big shot, that’s what he’s been doing for years, for TNT, and now he can do it for us. I’m happy he’s on our team now.”
Meralco held an 86-83 lead with less than two minutes left in overtime when De Ocampo drilled a long two-pointer that gave them an 88-83 buffer at the 1:21 mark.
As for Dillinger, there is nothing strange with De Ocampo thriving in big moments since all of his titles were won with the big man being hoisting the trophy up with him.
“I’ve been playing with that guy for so long and as soon as he got here we meshed right from the start,” said Dillinger. “Everyone knows what Ranidel is, everyone knows his game and his accomplishments so to have a guy like that on our team, who’s been through so much, it just gives us a legitimate shot at the title this year.”
Dillinger has been so accustomed to De Ocampo that he can afford to throw shade at his bearded teammate.
“He’s never going too fast, he’s like the slowest guy out there but he knows how to get to his spots, I can’t see enough nice things about that guy. It’s Ranidel, Mr. Delightful!”