A 1-0 LEAD isn’t that much for TNT KaTropa coach Jong Uichico and his troops at this point.
That’s why the Tropang Texters are looking to widen their advantage as they collide with Meralco again in their continuing best-of-five semifinal series in the 2016 Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup.
TNT will look to gain a commanding 2-0 series lead, while Meralco is desperate to equalize in Game 2 scheduled today at 7 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Despite the critical lead his team holds right now, Uichico emphasized that the series is still nowhere near finished.
“We’ll go back to the drawing board now. We won the first game, but it’s a series. It’s a long way to go,” he said. “We know Meralco can comeback. We can’t put our guards down. We haven’t accomplished anything yet.”
Dating back to the elimination round, the Tropang Texters have won five in a row now and their morale and momentum are at an extreme high.
In Game 1, TNT KaTropa showed why it is the heavy favorite in this series.
The top seed clicked on all cylinders and attacked the helpless Bolts from all angles, scoring an easy 113-95 blowout victory just the other night to take the early series lead.
While Meralco’s defense focused on stopping TNT ace Jayson Castro, the Tropang Texters banked on prolific Asian import Mike Madanly as he shot the lights out and scored 20 of his team-high 22 points in the second half to lead his squad to victory.
Meralco coach Norman Black admitted how difficult it was for his team to stop the scorching Texters the last time out.
“We really had a difficult time stopping TNT’s offense, both inside and outside. When they’re playing like that, it’s really tough, but we’ll see what we can do to improve. We need to adjust our defense and make it better,” said Black.
Over the other side of the fence, Barangay Ginebra is currently going for a commanding 2-0 series lead over defending champion San Miguel as the rivals are battling in Game 2 as of press time.