Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net
LUCENA — Despite Meralco’s eight-day layoff, coach Norman Black refused to blame rust for his side’s lackluster showing in the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals Game 1 on Friday.
“We got outplayed tonight. It didn’t have to do anything with rust. I think we had three more days of rest than they had so I don’t see a big deal as far as that’s concerned,” said Black after the 102-87 loss to Ginebra in the series opener.
But Black knows exactly where things went downhill for the Bolts.
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“We shot poorly from the perimeter today,” he said. “Uncharacteristically, we took so many three-point shots. I think we took about 35 and we only average 21 a game. We give them credit for the defense at the same time, it was bad shot selections on our part.”
What caused Meralco’s first quarter downfall was its measly 2-of-17 shooting from three as Ginebra established control early and took a 49-35 halftime lead.
Though the Bolts were able to hit those three-pointers in their third quarter rally, their 8-of-24 sniping, which translates to 24-percent, was still way below their average of 37 percent, a league-best.
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Black reminded his wards to be more intelligent in their shot selections, saying that just because the Gin Kings’ defense are giving them space to shoot a three, it doesn’t mean that they should always go for it.
“They’re sagging, but you don’t have to take three-point shots because they’re sagging. Ginebra continues to make the extra pass and get a little bit closer to the basket. We can actually do the same thing. We’ve been doing that the entire conference long and I have no idea why we mixed it up into shooting a lot of threes,” he said.
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“Going into Game 2, we have to make sure we get good looks with the basket.”
Game 2 is on Sunday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.