Black challenges locals to make shots, help Durham

Norman Black. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net

With Meralco down 0-2 in the 2017 PBA Governors’ Cup Finals, coach Norman Black acknowledged that Game 3 on Wednesday is a must-win for the Bolts.

“We know what it’s like to be down 0-2, and most of the time, the teams that were down 2-0 did not bounce back to win a championship,” Black said in the aftermath of the Bolts’ 86-76 Game 2 defeat to Barangay Ginebra on Sunday.

Hope is still not lost and Black knows no lead is insurmountable in series after San Miguel Beer came back from a 0-3 hellhole to win the 2016 Philippine Cup.

“There are instances when teams were down 0-3, came back, and won. We saw San Miguel do it recently, so it is possible,” he said.

But if Meralco wants to make it a series, the team must start focusing on the little things first as Black hopes the Bolts will be able to regain the deadly form they had back in the elimination round all the way to the semifinals.

“They’re not performing right now at the level that we performed at during the eliminations, in the quarterfinals, and in the semifinals. I would imagine Ginebra has a lot to do with that because they’re also playing very good basketball. But no question, my locals need to step up a little bit to support Allen (Durham) and make some shots. That’s really the problem right now,” he said.

The three-point shot has been a huge weapon for Meralco this conference it’s been a different story in the final. The long balls have been largely absent as they shot 8-of-24 from beyond the arc in Game 1 and further plummeted to a 5-of-23 sniping in Game 2.

“Ranidel (de Ocampo) is not making his threes. Jared (Dillinger) is not making his threes. We’re not getting that spacing that we need around Allen to be able to have him successful. We’ve had that the entire conference but in this series, in the first two games, we haven’t been able to knock down our outside shots,” lamented Black.

Black is not ready to give up with another game set on Wednesday.

“We just didn’t finish the game very well today. But until they win four games, we’ll be out there fighting.”