Nothing seems to work for reigning titleholder Meralco Bolts in the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup lately.
Meralco coach Luigi Trillo expressed his concern after his wards absorbed a string of losses in the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup Sunday, April 27.
The Bolts opened the all-Filipino conference looking like the defending champion that they are, dismantling Converge and Terrafirma.
But what appeared to be a promising start quickly turned into a nightmare as they stumbled to three straight defeats, the latest of which came against Rain or Shine, 116-128.
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From now on, every game is a must-win for the Bolts, according to Trillo.
“For sure, [we’re worried]. Any team can beat anyone. Phoenix beat us. We beat Terrafirma. Terrafirma beat Phoenix. At this point, every game is important. Every quarter is important,” Trillo said.
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With guys like Allein Maliksi out for the rest of the conference and Chris Banchero still carefully easing into the rotation, Trillo felt his charges' rhythm on both ends are in disarray.
“We look like we're not there. We look a little bit slow. We're a little bit hesitant in what we're doing,” Trillo said.
“But it's tough to watch because we're better than that. We're better defensively. We're better offensively.”
Trillo, though, was quick to praise the Elasto Painters, who played without injured big men Beau Belga, Caelan Tiongson and Keith Datu.
“They're at a torrid pace. They put you on your heels with a quick lineup. (Adrian) Nocum, (Gian) Mamuyac just got to the rim every time. Santi (Santillan) played huge. He got 27 points,” the amiable mentor said.
“It's one of those games where we got outhustled, outplayed. Even me, I felt like we were outcoached just as a team. It's tough like that.”