Meralco eyes revenge

Meralco is out to keep its Final Four hopes alive and the first step is beating the undefeated New Taipei Kings in a Group B EASL game at the PhilSports Arena tonight. It won’t be an easy task but Bolts coach Luigi Trillo said they’ve learned a lot from their first meeting in Taipei last Nov. 29.

New Taipei beat Meralco, 97-92, in their initial face-off. The Bolts led by five at the end of the first quarter, three at the half and one to start the fourth period. NBA veteran Jeremy Lin and 6-5 import Kenny Manigault combined for 12 of the Kings’ 32 points in the last 10 minutes to edge Meralco down the stretch. Zach Lofton hit 35 points, Prince Ibeh 18 and Chris Newsome 16 to pace the Bolts who played without Allein Maliksi and Aaron Black. Lin, who saw action in nine NBA seasons and won an NBA championship with Toronto in 2019, wound up with 25 points, four rebounds and seven assists in 30:48 minutes. Meralco is coming off a painful 81-80 loss to Seoul in Sta. Rosa, Laguna last Wednesday and the Bolts hope to draw energy from the home crowd to deal New Taipei its first loss.

At presstime, there was still no clarity on the imports suiting up for the Kings. New Taipei has four imports in its roster but only two are allowed to play. Kings coach Ryan Marchand, who has worked as an operations intern with Minnesota and video coordinator with Orlando in the NBA, will choose two from among Manigault, 6-8 Tony Mitchell, 6-9 Christian Anigwe and 7-0 Byron Mullens to play against Meralco. Additionally, Marchand can list Lin and his brother Joseph, Asian heritage import Hayden Blankley and naturalized player Quincy Davis in the New Taipei cast. In the first Meralco encounter, the Kings’ imports were Manigault and Anigwe.

New Taipei is on top of Group B with a 2-0 mark. Aside from Meralco, the Kings will still play Ryukyu on Jan. 10, Ryukyu again on Jan. 24 and Seoul on Jan. 31. Meralco has a 1-3 slate and plays New Taipei and Seoul on Feb. 7 to wind up its regular season schedule. Ryukyu and Seoul tote identical 2-2 records. The results of the coming games will determine the top two finishers advancing to the Final Four for a chance to win the $1 million first prize.

“The Kings have been playing well,” said Trillo. “They’re still undefeated. They have a couple of guys who are good one-on-one players. Jeremy attacked us in the fourth quarter (of our first game), pick-and-rolls and blow-bys. We also gave up a lot of offensive rebounds. We have to be more solid on what we’re willing to give them and what we’re trying to take away.”

Trillo said Newsome and Black may not play tonight. “Against Ginebra (last Dec. 22), New wasn’t supposed to play and we had half the team sick two days before,” he said. “Everybody is better now, nobody’s sick anymore. We still have a slight chance (to make the playoffs) but we would have to have Ryukyu win and we would have to beat Seoul. To me, what would be great is if we can focus on what it takes to beat Taipei, if we can give ourselves a chance by playing at a high level. That would be only the second win a PBA team has gotten in EASL over the last three years. It would be not only good for us but for Philippine pride that our clubs can compete despite the advantage on the difference of rules that the other countries have with their own leagues. Doctors advised New to rest for seven days and we’ll go from there. If he could play on one leg, he would because he really wants to play.”

Trillo said Lofton and Chris Banchero will alternate in defending Lin. “Zach’s wrist has been bothering him and he hasn’t been practicing with us, just doing light shoot-arounds but he’ll play against the Kings,” he said. The game will be the second EASL contest this season to be played in Metro Manila after two games in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.