Charmed this time?

Twice, Meralco coach Norman Black and his charges have tried. Twice, they faltered.

And the decorated mentor hopes that a third go at Barangay Ginebra and the crown—which unfolds on Jan. 8 at the fabled Big Dome—would be the charm.

“We all feel like we have some unfinished business,” he told reporters shortly after taking down sister team TNT in Game 5, 89-78, on Monday at Ynares Center in Antipolo for the last PBA Governors’ Cup Finals berth.

“We’ve already had two rounds with Ginebra and we’ve lost both,” Black pointed out.

Fortunately for the Grand Slam mentor, Meralco is not only bringing a winning feeling into the trilogy. The Bolts are also bringing fresh faces—ones he hopes could add to the growing hunger of finally delivering the club’s first PBA crown.

“Obviously [we have] added depth compared to when we [last] faced Ginebra in the past,” Black said, referring to Raymond Almazan, Allein Maliksi and Bong Quinto, who have all proved crucial in the Bolts’ return trip to the Finals.

Almazan has become an essential cog for Meralco in the interior, taking load off the shoulders of Allen Durham. Maliksi has added depth to Meralco’s scoring plus a go-to shooter at the perimeter to punish defenses camping down low.

Quinto, meanwhile, is living up to Black’s tag as the biggest steal of this year’s draft class.

“They’ve made us a better team,” said Black, who hopes the new additions would help bridge the talent disparity between the two squads, especially with Ginebra adding hotshot Stanley Pringle to its loaded roster.

While the title clash is being billed as the third duel of a Governors’ Cup, Black isn’t paying particular attention to the squad at the opposite end of the court.

“It wouldn’t matter what team we are playing [just that] we’ve already lost two,” Black said. “We have a lot of respect for Ginebra and Tim Cone. Tim is a top coach in the league. But our goal is to win. Simple as that. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing against.”

Selling the same even-keel approach to his players, however, might be a little difficult.

“It’s going to be fun. As a competitor, you always want to play against the best,” said Durham, who was Meralco’s losses in the last two showdowns with the Gin Kings. “I actually think [Ginebra’s] a better matchup for us compared to TNT. They got shooters all over and now I think we’ll be able to use [Raymond] a little bit more because they’re a bigger team.”

“There’s nobody else that I’d rather play than Ginebra,” Chris Newsome said. “[W]e have to go in there and get a win this time.“

“I’m excited to have another shot against Ginebra—of all teams,” Newsome added.

And that’s not counting the subtext of the Finals showdown: a war between two teams operating under two rival business conglomerates. And the MVP Group has been losing that showdown in the last five years.

But in the end, it’s still what a basketball championship is. Two teams, one title.

“[The Kings are] always hungry. Tim’s always hungry, that’s why he has so many championships,” Black said. “But we want to win.” INQ