MERALCO has already surpassed its previous performance in the Philippine Cup under new coach Norman Black.
Now, the Bolts hope they have enough power left as they are now three wins shy of reaching the finals for the first time since joining the league in 2010.
Meralco battles top seed Rain or Shine at the start of the best-of-five semifinal series of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup on Tuesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum at 7 in the evening.
The Elasto Painters obviously have the edge after playing just one game to reach the next round, beating Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in a controversial match, 92-91.
The Bolts needed two wins to reach the next stage, silencing their sister team NLEX, including the 91-85 overtime win in Game Two last Sunday to sweep their best-of-three quarterfinal series.
“We made a big jump from our performance last year,” said Black, who replaced Ryan Gregorio at the helm at the start of the season and led the squad to a quarterfinal stint in the Philippine Cup before losing to Alaska in a one-game playoff.
“Let’s see what we can do against Rain or Shine. They use all of their players, which means we have to get a very good effort from our import and our locals,” Black added. “We know how strong Rain or Shine is. It’s going be tough for us.”
Meralco beat Rain or Shine in their lone meeting in the elimination round, 92-87, on February 10, but the Elasto Painters still had Rick Jackson as their import. That win was part of the Bolts’ sizzling 5-0 start in the tournament before losing five of their next six games.
Rain or Shine was 2-2 after that game and after bringing back Wayne Chism, the Elasto Painters won six of their next seven games to clinch the top seeding in the quarterfinal round.
They pulled off a one-point escape over the Kings behind the controversial go-ahead lay-up of Jeff Chan. The win gave them more time to prepare and rest for the semifinals but Head Coach Yeng Guiao downplayed those advantages.
“We are just an experienced team but not as talented as Meralco,” said Guiao, who has been drawing super games from second-year center Raymund Almazan.
“Raymund is playing maturely. He’s 20 pounds lighter than his opponent but he has been playing well for us,” Guiao added.
A big blow for the Bolts’ campaign is the absence of Jared Dillinger, who hurt his left knee in Game One of their quarterfinal series against the Road Warriors.
“The loss of JD (Dillinger) hurt as a lot,” said Black, who will again bank on his versatile import Josh Davis and veteran shooter Gary David, who exploded for a personal conference-best 31 points in their series clincher against NLEX.
The other semifinal pairing pits defending champion Purefoods and Talk ‘N Text will start on Wednesday also at the Big Dome.