Meralco not looking too far ahead in quest for revenge vs Ginebra

Meralco coach Normal Black. INQUIRER PHOTO/TRISTAN TAMAYO

MANILA, Philippines—Losing two finals series in three years has made Meralco hungrier than ever, but head coach Norman Black and the Bolts are not going to throw caution to the wind in their quest for revenge.

Meralco has a chance to erase the bitter memory of their back-to-back Governors’ Cup losses to Ginebra but Black reminded his team that they can’t be way ahead of themselves in this third showdown.

“We need to worry about Game 1 and then Game 2 first instead of saying ‘hey we need to win this championship immediately,’” said Black during the pre-finals press conference Saturday at Sambokojin Eastwood. “It doesn’t work like that.”

“Ginebra’s a tough team, they’re good offensively and also solid defensively.”

Both teams are fairly unchanged in terms of its core players with the exception of Jared Dillinger who is now part of the Gin Kings, but Meralco and Ginebra added significant cogs to their roster that could change the complexion of the series.

The Bolts tapped Raymond Almazandand small forward Allein Maliksi while Ginebra added 2018 Scoring Champion and perennial MVP contender Stanley Pringle to the fold in the middle of the second conference.

Black said Pringle drastically changed the Gin Kings’ playing style. Ginebra averaged just 5.9 three-pointers a game in the Philippine Cup but things changed when Pringle arrived in the Commissioner’s Cup.

The Gin Kings’ long-range shooting slowly improved to 8.7 makes at a 32.8 percent rate in the second conference to 10.2 shots and a 38.4 percent clip in the third conference.

“Stanley takes a lot of threes, [Justin] Brownlee takes a lot, Jeff Chan has come in and put up a lot of three-pointers,” said Black. “You really have to guard them in the perimeter now.”

But that’s not the only thing that  Meralco has to worry about since the Gin Kings are the best team in the league in finding the open man be it outside or in the paint.

Ginebra ranked best in terms of assists at 27.8 a game in the Governors’ Cup.

“They’re the best assists team in the league so you got to worry about their short passing because they like to pass the ball from short angles for layups,” said Black. “You really have to be on cue when it comes to your defense to be able to defend them.”

“We’ve always been a good defensive team so I’m expecting since we’ve had two weeks to prepare, that we’re prepared for just about anything they’ve been doing in the past.”