BARANGAY Ginebra has a perfect 4-0 mark versus Meralco in title duels, but the Bolts have gained some breakthrough in their rivalry with a win in their quarterfinals faceoff in the last All-Filipino tourney.
Now comes the new chapter in the Ginebra-Meralco saga as the two teams clash in the PBA Commissioner's Cup at 6:45 p.m. today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Having gotten the monkey off their back, the Bolts look to get going but may have to do so minus ace player Chris Newsome who went down with a calf injury in the second quarter of a sorry 101-95 loss in overtime to the NorthPort Batang Pier Friday.
It's a disappointing loss as the Bolts led by as many as 20 points but blew away the game on a fold-up down the stretch.
"We had our opportunities. We had shots underneath the basket. We couldn't make any outside shots. It was like their shots were falling while our shots stopped going in," said Meralco coach Norman Black.
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Then they had a short window of just one day to prep up for a bounceback bid against the Gin Kings.
But coach Tim Cone and his troops themselves are coming off a disappointing conference debut.
Rain or Shine routed Barangay Ginebra, 93-71, to give chief strategist Yeng Guiao his first win back at the franchise's helm after falling short last week while spoiling the debut of the beefed-up Gin Kings.
The Elasto Painters used a telling 30-5 exchange in the second period to tear the game apart en route to the bounceback win from their 96-90 loss to Guiao's former team NLEX in their previous outing.
Cone was surprised how Guiao prepared his team and how the Kings reacted and responded.
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"Pretty stunning the way we played," said Cone. "Didn't expect this at all. I have to give credit to coach Yeng for a brilliant game plan, changing defense on us. We weren't prepared for changing defenses.
"They were really smart because we just got new guys and we weren't prepared to do that kind of stuff. We were focused on our execution and they disrupted our execution. And they shot the ball really well and we didn't shoot the ball well," he added.
And so both the Bolts and the Kings have adjustments to make as each side tries to avoid a 0-2 conference start.
Meralco would have big adjustments to make if Newsome isn't able to play.
The Kings, meanwhile, are being asked by Cone to step up. (SB)
