Meralco braces for a big response from Barangay Ginebra San Miguel as it goes for a 2-0 lead on Friday, April 8 when the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals shifts to the southern portion of Metro Manila at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Bolts try to make it two in a row over the Gin Kings at 6 p.m. as they look to produce a fitting sequel to their 104-91 victory two nights earlier that started the ball rolling in the best-of-seven affair.
Despite drawing first blood, coach Norman Black is looking at making some tweaks to his gameplan with Ginebra expected to make up for its lackluster showing.
“The only thing I can say is because I’ve been on the losing end many times is that I’m just taking it one game at a time,” Black said. “We got the first game, and I’m gonna look at the second game like it’s 0-0 and we have to get the second game.
“I’m just gonna make sure that my team is well-prepared for Game 2 and I’m gonna try to anticipate what adjustments they’ll have to make. Hopefully, we'll be able to find a few more adjustments that we can make also.”
Allein Maliksi’s hot shooting in the first half carried Meralco to a double-digit lead before import Tony Bishop took over in the third when Ginebra tried to mount a comeback.
Maliksi and Bishop hope to do the same in Game 2, so are the solid contributions of the rest of the Meralco squad like Cliff Hodge, Aaron Black, Chris Newsome, Chris Banchero, Raymond Almazan and Bong Quinto.
Ginebra’s LA Tenorio lamented that Meralco came in with too much intensity and desire to win the opener, something his team would like to match.
Tenorio and import Justin Brownlee are keen on putting up good shooting numbers this time while Scottie Thompson will also try to keep Ginebra away from a 0-2 deficit.
Emotions stemming from the postgame incident involving Ginebra’s Arvin Tolentino and Meralco’s third-string big man Raymar Jose could carry over into the match.
Tolentino and Jose are scheduled to be summoned by PBA commissioner Willie Marcial before Game 2.