Meralco Bolts’ Chris Banchero against New Taipei’s Jeremy Lin.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—Meralco reeled to a 1-4 record in the East Asia Super League after bowing to New Taipei at Philsports Arena on Wednesday and if coach Luigi Trillo had anything to say about it, it was due to the Bolts’ inability to lock down Jeremy Lin.
Meralco was on the wrong end of a late-game explosion from the former NBA veteran, who finished with a double-double of 23 points and 10 rebounds.
But Lin registered four personal fouls, something that the Bolts could have taken advantage of, according to Trillo.
“I feel like our problem was, we didn’t take Jeremy Lin away. He was in foul trouble with three fouls and we could’ve punished him a bit more and played more defense. I thought sometimes, the ball froze and it hurt us offensively,” said the coach after their 89-77 loss.
“You have to give credit to the Kings as a whole, as well. They did what they needed to do when they got those turnovers. They didn’t complain. They pushed the ball down and got a lot of easy ones.”
The Meralco tactician acknowledged that the former New York swingman hasn’t been getting the minutes with New Taipei but said Lin can always explode at the right time.
And explode, he did.
“He’s NBA-caliber and he does a lot of things for them. The last few games of Taipei, he wasn’t getting heavy minutes but you know that in the end, he’s going to make the right plays,” Trillo said of Lin.
Chris Banchero, who had the lion’s share of defending the Asian basketball sensation, also lauded Lin.
Only finishing with 10 points and three rebounds, Banchero said that it shouldn’t have been just him locking down the 35-year-old guard.
“Obviously, he’s a very good player and whenever you face guys like that, it just couldn’t be my job. Everybody on the floor has to be aware of where he’s at to help in defense,” said the shifty point guard.
“I thought we did a good job on him in the first half. He just hit some timely threes. Players like that, they’re really going to do that. They’re gonna have good games,” he added.