‘SMB Miracle Run’ gagawing inspirasyon ng Meralco sa game 3

Laro Bukas (Smart Araneta Coliseum)

7 p.m.  Ginebra vs Meralco

MANILA, Philippines — Umaasa ang Meralco na makakakuha ng inspirasyon sa ‘miracle run’ ng San Miguel para makabangon mula sa 0-2 pagkakabaon laban sa Barangay Ginebra sa 2017 PBA Governors’ Cup best-of-seven title rematch.

“We know what it’s like to be 0-2 down. Most of the teams that were down 0-2 were not able to bounce back and win the championships,” wika ni Bolts’ coach Norman Black.

“But there were ins­tances when teams were down 0-3 and came back and won. San Miguel did it recently over Alaska. So it’s possible,” dagdag pa nito.

Ang Beermen lamang ang koponang nakabalik mula sa 3-0 pagkakaiwan sa isang PBA best-of-se­ven playoff series.

Ginawa ito ng San Miguel laban sa Alaska no­ong 2016 Philippine Cup finals.

Nakalasap naman ang Meralco, ang playoffs top seed, ng 87-102 kabiguan sa Game One at 76-86 pagkatalo sa Game Two kontra sa Ginebra sa kanilang title series.

“We’re still alive,” ani Black. “Until they won four games, we’ll be out there fighting.”

Hindi naman ito kinontra ni Ginebra coach Tim Cone.

“They still having a lot of punches to throw at us,” sabi ng Gin Kings mentor sa Bolts ni Black.

Idinagdag pa ni Cone na ang two-day break ang magbibigay sa Meralco ng karagdagang panahon para makapag-isip ng bagong estratehiya sa Game Three bukas.

“Game Two was a real trying game because of the out-of-town game that we had 48 hours ago. We didn’t get back to Manila until 3 o’clock in the morning. It’s really a trying weekend of us and for them as well. It looked like in the end, we had a little bit more than they did,” ani Cone.

“But now they’ve got two days to refresh, and I think that extra day in the championship is valuable. It allows us to discontinue playing back-to-back-to-back-to-back. A day means a lot. Monday is big for both teams, and it’s bigger for them,” dagdag pa nito.

Ngunit mas mahalaga kay Black ang maipasok ang kanilang mga tira bukod pa ang suporta para kay import Allen Durham.

“No question, our locals need to step up a little bit to support Allen (Durham) and make their shots. That’s r­eally the problem right now,” dagdag pa nito.