Bolts embrace challenge vs Tropang 5G
MANILA, Philippines — A marathon and not a sprint.
With the Meralco Bolts punching their ticket to the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals, the road back to the championship round will be hard as they have to go through the TNT Tropang 5G.
TNT, the third seed of the All-Filipino conference, knocked out the Magnolia Hotshots in the quarterfinal round, while Meralco had to overcome a twice-to-win disadvantage against the second-seeded Rain or Shine Elasto Painters to make it to the semis.
And with the two teams now battling in a best-of-seven series, Bolts guard Chris Newsome embraced the challenge of taking on the Tropang 5G.
“We definitely know that TNT is a team that likes to compete. They're a team that really has embraced their system and their culture. I got to know Coach Chot and some of the staff over there and see how they work with their team. They're a class act team over there,” he said after the win on Monday.
“We know what we're up against. It's going to be an exciting semis. Even the quarterfinals, it, was an exciting game. And then you got the game today. So the semis, I definitely feel like it's going to be a great matchup,” he added.
Still, Newsome stressed that they have what it takes to scale the championship mountain once again.
“But for us, it's just tackling one game at a time. Focus on game one first, and then we'll go from there,” he said.
“But I think we have enough playoff experience to get the job done. And we know this is going to be a marathon and not a sprint.”
Meralco, which won the 2024 PBA Philippine Cup title, failed to make it to the semis in the PBA Season 49 after exiting in the quarterfinals in each of the three conferences.
This time around, the Bolts had a 0-2 start in the conference before winning three straight. They, then, lost two straight anew before stringing together three consecutive wins.
“It's been hard after that championship because some of the other teams have improved themselves. They've made a lot of trades. They've gotten younger. And then the EASL-BCL, it's really hard to do both. So I think we did enough that we were one game away from getting a twice to beat or getting into the top four or top two,” Meralco head coach Luigi Trillo said.
“Dito, just proud of the resiliency. We didn't start out well. And then we were 3-4. We had to win three straight. This is special. But right now, in front of us is TNT. They've had their number quite a lot. Last year, they won two championships. Very, very solid,” he added.
TNT defeated Meralco by just two points, 100-98, in the elimination round thanks to a Rey Nambatac game-winner.
“It's going to be a battle for us. I think this is what they want, they want to go through the best. So ngayon, andoon yung TNT.”
The semifinals will tip off this Sunday, January 4. The Bolts-Tropang 5G battle will be at 5:15 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
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