Bolts aminadong underdog kontra Gin Kings sa finals

Nakikita ng pamunuan ng Meralco Bolts na sila ang underdog sa kanlang paghaharap sa finals ng Barangay Ginebra San Miguel sa pangatlong pagkakataon sa PBA Governors’ Cup. Ayon kay Meralco team governor Al Pianlilio, nakikita niya na sila pa rin ang underdog sa serye dahil hindi pa nananalo ang Bolts kontra Gin Kings sa dalawa nilang paghaharap sa finals noong 2016 at 2017 Governors’ Cup.

“This will be an exciting series. But I think Meralco is the underdog. We met Ginebra twice and we lost twice. We haven’t really been a rival to them. The only way we can be a rivalry is to win against them,” saad ni Panlilio kahapon sa press conference sa Sambokojin Eastwood sa Libis, Quezon City.

Hindi naman naniniwala si Ginebra governor Alfrancis Chua sa pahayag ni Panlilio dahil sa lakas na ipinamalas ng Bolts noong Governors’ Cup kabilang ang kanilang panalo sa semifinals kontra TNT. “Matagal nang kumita ‘yun. They beat Talk N’ Text. Coach Norman did a great job of beating them. I think in this competition, you can see two coaches that works hard. I’ve been with Norman for how many years so kilala ko. Parehong hardworkers. Napakagandang laban,” saad ni Panlilio.

Inaasahan naman ng bawat koponan na aabot sa Game 7 ang kanilang labanan sa serye. Sa nakaraan nilang paghaharap ay pawang umabot sa Game 6 at 7 ang kanilang paghaharap.

“Probably could go to Game 10, if necessary, if that’s a possibility. Our feeling is that it will go down to a Game 7. That’s generally the case if you have two good teams,” saad ni Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone.

Ayon naman kay Meralco coach Norman Black, handa rin ang kanyang koponan na umabot sa Game 7 ang labanan. “We feel like we are in good shape. We paced our players the entire conference and they stayed fresh. We just played TNT in Game Five. We will be ready in case it does go into Game 7,” ani Black. Magsisimula ang serye sa Martes, 7 ng gabi sa Smart-Araneta Coliseum habang ang Game 2 naman ay gaganapin sa Biyernes sa Quezon Convention Center sa Lucena City.