BY WAYLON GALVEZ
Meralco forward Allein Maliksi said the team will have the same mindset despite their woeful outside shooting in Game 1 of the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals that saw Ginebra prevailing 91-87 Tuesday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
One of the respectable shooters in the league, Maliksi said they will continue to shoot from afar if one of them is free since this is one of their strengths.
But Game 1 was forgettable as they misfired – almost everybody.
“Mga open shots naman halos lahat, hindi lang talaga pumapasok in Game 1,” Maliksi said. “Pero para sa akin, tuloy lang namin kung ano yung ginagawa namin, tira pa din kami outside.”
“May mga game talaga na you have an off-night… nangyari sa amin sa Game 1. Adjustment konti, confident pa din dapat sa tira. Hindi dapat na ma-down kami after that loss, pero importante na maka-bawi kami.”
Maliksi was brought to Meralco via trade with Blackwater during the course of the elimination round this conference because of his shooting and scoring prowess and he has actually played well for coach Norman Black, including in the semifinal series versus TNT KaTropa.
In Game 1 of the Finals, however, he was shooting bricks as he missed all five field goal attempts, including four from the three-point territory as he finished with just two points – all from the free throw line.
Chris Newsome collected 24 points but he converted 3-of-10 on his three-point shots, while import Allen Durham, who led Meralco with 25 points, missed all his attempts from the trifecta.
Raymond Almazan, a 6-foot-9 center who developed his shooting abilities as a member of Rain or Shine, had a better shooting from way beyond the arc as he connected two on three tries, while the usually prolific shooters Baser Amer and rookie Bong Quinto shot a combined 2-of-10.
In all, the Bolts shot 7-of-32 from three-point range in Game 1, or just 21 percent, which is far from their second-best ranking this conference of almost 37 percent behind the 38 percent of the Kings.
“We didn’t shoot the ball very well particularly from three-point land,” said Black. “Ginebra does a good job of clogging the paint defensively. They want you to shoot from the outside.”
“Normally… we do a good job of shooting at a high percentage but tonight we did not. Even if we had open looks, we just couldn’t make it.”
Black expects improvement in Game 2 set Friday in Lucena City, particularly from their lead point guard in Amer, who scored just nine points with three rebounds in almost 29 minutes of action.
“We have to find a way for Baser to breakthrough,” said Black, pointing to the struggles Amer had since the first two finals in this same conference against Ginebra in 2016 and 2017.
“He just have to dig deep and breakthrough and have a great game,” added Black.
