Game Today
(Smart Araneta)
7 p.m. – TNT KaTropa vs Meralco
TNT KaTropa guns for 2-0 lead in best-of-5 semis.
TNT KaTropa coach Jong Uichico harbors no illusion.
Even after winning Game 1, Uichico is aware the Meralco Bolts – led by import Allen Durham – is capable of staging a comeback when they play in Game 2 of their semifinal series in the PBA Governors’ Cup tonight at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The top seeded Texters took the series-opener of the five-game showdown with a convincing 113-95 win Tuesday, using a big third quarter run that turned a tight game into a blowout.
Uichico is convinced they have to be ready for the Bolts’ fightback.
“We’ll go back to the drawing board,” said Uichico, who handled most of the players over at Meralco when he served as team consultant a few of years back before he moved to TNT.
“We know Meralco can come back so we can’t put our guards down. It’s just the first game… it’s a series we haven’t accomplished anything, it’s a long way to go,” added Uichico.
With veteran guard Larry Fonacier and Michael Madanley of Syria converting their shots from three-point territory, TNT stretched a 45-43 edge to 84-63 on a jump shot by import Mychal Ammons late in the third frame.
As for Meralco, which is playing in its second straight semifinal series, veteran coach Norman Black said they have to double their effort in defending the shooters of TNT, a team he helped win during the 2013 Philippine Cup.
“We had a difficult time stopping their penetration,” said Black.
“We had a difficult time stopping their three-point shooting; you try to pick your poison on what are going to defend… but when TNT is playing like that, it’s really difficult. It’s just that you don’t want to do a scoring game with TNT because they can outscore every team in the league.”
“What we really want to do is run when we have the opportunities and slow it down, which we did not,” Black added.