Meralco coach Norman Black offered no excuses following his side’s 101-86 loss to San Miguel on Wednesday.
“Bad game. That’s all I can really tell you. We got off to a horrible start. We couldn’t defend the perimeter. We couldn’t defend the paint. We got down by 30,” he said.
With the Beermen going bonkers from three, the Bolts found themselves on the defensive all game long, even staring at a 31-point deficit, 60-29, early in the third frame.
But Meralco didn’t go down without a fight, as Baser Amer and Joseph Yeo sparked an uprising which saw the team cut the deficit to as low as nine, 88-79 in the fourth. Unfortunately, that bid would end up falling short, as San Miguel got back to its senses and nabbed the win for good.
“We played a bit better in the second half, fought offensively and defensively, but turnovers cost us this particular game. We were coming back but crucial turnovers, they really set us back,” said Black.
Though disappointed with the outcome, the veteran mentor said that his team couldn’t do anything but bounce back strong when the new year comes.
“There is a bit of urgency, yes. We don’t wanna get eliminated. We have to start getting performances from everybody. Otherwise, we’ll get stuck at the bottom four,” he said, as the Bolts currently stand at 10th place with a 2-4 slate.
“First thing we can do is go back to practice and work really hard. We’ll work on our weaknesses. Take a look at the tape and see what went wrong and try to fix it.”