‘No fluidity,’ says Coach Trillo on Cebuana’s loss
MANILA, Philippines – Minutes after Cebuana Lhuiller’s 62-76 defeat against fancied NLEX in game one of their best-of-three finals of the PBA D-League Foundation Cup Tuesday, coach Luigi Trillo stood beside his team’s dugout and just stared at the stat sheet.
The numbers don’t lie.
“They had about 17 fastbreak points and 13 turnover points, that’s 30 points right there,” pointed Trillo.
“We have to take them [NLEX] away from their strengths, they’re a running team, they’re very athletic,” Trillo told INQUIRER.net.
But it wasn’t just the defensive end that had Trillo shaking his head.
The Gems only had 21 points of Allein Maliksi to show as the Cebuana player was the only one to notch in double-figures and Trillo accounted it for their bad execution.
“There’s too much two-man game, no fluidity. Our offense was all over the place, we’re rushing, we need to take our time,” said Trillo, who also serves as an assistant coach for the Alaska Aces in the PBA.
On the flip side, NLEX had four players in double-digits led by San Sebastian’s Ronald Pascual, who had 17 points, while Fil-American Cliff Hodge had an all-around game of 10 points, five rebounds and seven blocks.
“We didn’t control them defensively. Our last three games we gave about an average of 62 points, last time out we held PC Gilmore at 55, this game we gave up 74,” cited Trillo.
Game two will be on Thursday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig, and Trillo remains in high hopes on forging a do-or-die game three.
“Normally, it’s the team that loses that makes the adjustments,” he said.
“For us, when we’re able to settle down and control the game with our defense, we give ourselves a better chance,” Trillo finished.
