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PBA PICTURES
How close has the PBA Philippine Cup been? Of the eight teams that qualified for the quarterfinals, two finished with 8-3 (win-loss) records and five finished with 7-4 cards.
That means three teams in the bottom half of the standings missed out on the Top 4, and valuable protection twice to win in the first round of the playoffs, simply because of the point ratio. And they will be faced with the daunting task of beating their higher-ranking foes twice in a one-loss situation and out to advance to the semi-finals.
The odds are tough. But the task is not impossible.
“It can happen,” Meralco coach Norman Black said. “Obviously, you’ll have to play basketball well.”
The Bolts held off NorthPort, 80-73, at the University of Angels Foundation on Wednesday, but the team that is making its first quarter-final appearance at the all-Filipino tournament has been playing passable basketball lately. marked with less than stellar performances on the stretch.
“It’s a little scary the way we’ve been ending games lately, giving up big leads,” Black told reporters here.
And as he and the Bolts prepare to review their quarterfinal foe’s playoff bonus, Black will look to address his team’s tendency to give up a lot of ground at crucial moments in a game.
“Because if that happens in the playoffs and you’re playing much better teams, they might not give up. We may not be able to maintain that advantage against them, ”he added.
Meralco advances as the fifth seed and will face defending champion San Miguel Beer in the quarters. The Beermen held onto the fourth seed and claimed the final playoff incentive and will enter that matchup with an 89-82 loss to the Bolts in the knockout round.
Magnolia’s coach Chito Victolero, on the other hand, is satisfied where the Hotshots are going into the playoffs.
“Actually, there is nothing more I could ask for. They have given so much, ”he also said Wednesday night, after a sixth consecutive victory at Blackwater’s expense, 95-80.
The Hotshots opened a 32-14 lead in the first period and never looked back.
Magnolia is one of five teams grouped at 7-4 but fell to No. 7. The Hotshots will face No. 2 Phoenix, one of two teams to hold 8-3 records.
The Hotshots lost to the Fuel Masters in the knockout round, 91-84, after leading most of the way.
“I know we will face them [head-on] and we will try to grind it, ”added Victolero.
Phoenix, meanwhile, rallied for a 90-88 win over Rain or Shine in Wednesday’s cup, launching the Elasto Painters into a matchup with No. 1 Barangay Geneva.
The Kings took the number one spot despite sharing the same record with Phoenix due to the winner-over-other rule.
With very few separate quarter-finals, it will all come down to the two-time incentive to beat the best teams.
“You have to win two games to get to the playoffs. That’s it, ”said Black, who will turn 63 on Thursday. “If you could get that first win, you push the team with the advantage a little bit and you’d get that second win.”
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