San Miguel weathered the Ginebra run.
Just four days after the blockbuster three-team trade that saw shooter Robert Bolick shipped to the NLEX Road Warriors and Don Trollano driven to the San Miguel Beermen, the Don is already proving his worth to the champion squad.
The former stalwart for NLEX was on the court for 32 minutes and immediately put up 16 points, along with six rebounds, a steal, and a block in the Beermen's 95-82 victory against the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel on Friday night in the PBA Commissioner's Cup.
Team captain Chris Ross was all too happy to finally get him.
"Don's a player. I've been raving about Don for years now. He came in and he was seamless," Ross said after the game.
"He picked up the offense and defense, and he picked up the schemes we were running. He made big shots and he's a complete player," he added.
Ross also gave Trollano plenty of praise regarding his character.
"He's very low maintenance. I've never been around Don like that, but he's super low maintenance," he noted.
"Super quiet guy but his game is loud."
And the Beermen absolutely needed Trollano even though they were up 56-36 at halftime.
Their playing assistant coach had warned them about Ginebra's tendencies.
"We pretty much had the game the whole time. I told the guys at halftime that they're gonna have a run. At some point, they're gonna have a run. Just weather it and try to get good shots," Ross said.
And run Ginebra did as the 24-point lead was trimmed down to just four in the final quarter.
"We had some lapses on our defense and we weren't sharing the ball offensively," Ross admitted. "But we were able to make big shots and weather the storm and come out with the win."
He had 22 points, with six shots from beyond the arc, along with four rebounds, six assists, and three steals.
"You had 22?" coach Jorge Gallent asked Ross during the post-game press conference. The guard just shrugged.
"We're just passing to each other. I told the guys I feel like in the two-game losing streak, we were going one-on-one. If we just play each other, it makes it so much easier for everybody," he explained.
The win snapped the Beermen's two-game skid and improved to 4-3 as they sit fifth in the standings.
They will next take on the TNT Tropang Giga this Sunday, 6:15 p.m., at Ynares Center, Antipolo. It will be aired on A2Z, PBA Rush, and the Pilipinas Live app.
(CF)