Black on Game 5 loss: We played bad from start to finish

MANILA, Philippines — For Meralco Bolts head coach Norman Black, reducing his team’s showing to a “bad start” doesn’t even begin to describe their loss in Game Five of the PBA Governors’ Cup on Sunday night.

“If you ask me, it’s not just the start. I thought we just played a bad game from start to finish,” Black said.

 “I thought they came out very aggressive,” he said of Barangay Ginebra. “Defensively, they double-teamed Allen Durham immediately.”

The aggressiveness won't cut it out for Ginebra. Clad in red — they were on both ends —the Kings mounted a stop after stop whenever Meralco tried to spark a rally. The result: A wire-to-wire Kings victory and the Bolts trailing the series 2-3.

Durham had been leading the Bolts in scoring virtually the whole series. In Game Five, the 6-foot-5 import was limited to just 20 points. In the first four games, he was averaging 34.5 markers a night.

It was Durham’s second lowest scoring output in the post-season. Against Talk ’N Text, he was clamped down to just 19.

For Black, the Gin Kings’ strategy was clear: Take the ball out of Durham’s hands. After doing so, Ginebra took care of the rest.

“[T]hey basically told us tonight that if the locals can beat them, then they'll lose, but they're not gonna let Allen Durham beat them,” he said.

“On the defensive end, we just seem to be a step slow. They were scoring at will — I think they shot almost 80 percent from 2 points in the first half,” Black assessed. “It’s very difficult to win any game if you can’t defend well.”

 “We've actually been dealing with this problem the entire conference, and we've been able to overcome it to some degree,” Black, also a Grand Slam coach, said. “But tonight their defense against Allen really shut him down.

“In turn, we were not able to get our other local players to get involved offensively, [too].”

The other scorers behind Durham were Reynel Hugnatan, Cliff Hodge and Chris Newsome, who were only able to contribute a combined 37 points. Skipper Jimmy Alapag breached the scoring department, too. But he was only able to finish with eight.

“And that's pretty much our demise,” Black offered. “Overall, I think we really got it taken to us by Ginebra.”