Meralco is keeping its head up despite bowing to Phoenix Super LPG in the quarterfinals of the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup late Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Bolts coach Luigi Trillo said they have nothing to be ashamed of as they were still able to make it past the eliminations despite being bothered by injuries and a hectic schedule.
He said they are still satisfied at how their campaign turned out.
“We’re okay. The thing, though, is that we’ve been joining a lot of leagues which we are proud to represent but I think it took its toll on us,” Trillo said.
“But it is what it is. If you look at our whole year, what we’ve been through, we’ve ended the conference at 8-3, and I’m proud of that.”
“The nice thing with our team is we did not quit. We were down 15, but we were able to trim it down to four points.”
Meralco was impressive in Trillo’s first conference at the saddle.
Despite seeing its import Suleiman Braimoh crashing with an Achilles injury and Zach Lofton leaving early while facing a busy schedule in the East Asia Super League Home and Away tournament, the Bolts were still impressive as they finished the eliminations in a four-way tie at the second spot with an 8-3 win-loss card.
They eventually ended as the fifth-seed and had to win over the Fuel Masters twice in a bid to advance to the best-of-five semifinals against topseed Magnolia.
But after posting a thrilling 116-107 win in triple overtime, the Bolts sputtered, leading to an 84-88 setback that put an end to their impressive run.
With Meralco out, the semifinal cast is already complete with Magnolia facing Phoenix while San Miguel Beer battling sister team Barangay Ginebra San Miguel.
Still, Trillo believes that the Fuel Masters could give the Hotshots a very good series.
“The future is bright for Phoenix. I have nothing but good words to say to them,” Trillo said.
