(PBA image)
Meralco is running out of healthy bodies—but captain Chris Newsome refuses to let the Bolts run out of fight.
The injury-plagued Bolts entered Friday night’s showdown against Barangay Ginebra without four key players and eventually suffered an 84-75 defeat in the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Jason Brickman, Bong Quinto, CJ Cansino and veteran big man Raymond Almazan were all forced to watch from the sidelines due to different injuries, leaving Meralco severely undermanned against one of the league’s toughest and most physical teams.
With barely more than 48 hours before their next assignment, the availability of all four players remains uncertain for Meralco’s Sunday clash against Rain or Shine.
But Newsome is not interested in making excuses.
Instead, the Bolts captain challenged every available player to embrace the team’s “next man up” mentality and be ready when their number is called.
“For us, it’s always about the next-man-up mentality,” Newsome said. “We have good players all around. They put the work in every day at practice.”
According to Newsome, Meralco’s reserves have prepared for moments like this. The challenge now is turning that preparation into production when the pressure is at its highest.
“For us, it’s always been about having that moment come and stepping up,” he added. “It just wasn’t our night. Our shots just didn’t fall.”
Despite missing several important weapons, the Bolts stayed within striking distance before Ginebra pulled away behind timely baskets and a stronger finishing kick.
Chris Banchero led Meralco’s local scorers with 15 points, while import Antonio Hester carried a massive workload inside the paint.
Hester delivered 24 points and 18 rebounds in a tireless double-double performance, but his monster numbers were not enough to prevent the Bolts from falling to a 2-3 record.
The defeat placed even more pressure on Meralco ahead of its battle against Rain or Shine at the Araneta Coliseum.
With the Bolts’ rotation possibly remaining depleted, Newsome believes the team must quickly correct its mistakes, rebuild its confidence and improve its chemistry.
“There are things we can do a lot better,” he said.
Newsome also stressed that Meralco cannot allow one painful loss—or its growing injury list—to destroy the team’s belief.
“We can’t let this loss affect our confidence,” he said. “We’ll go home, check out the film, see what I can do better and come together as a team to improve our chemistry and work on the things we need to work on.”
The situation is far from ideal, but the message from Meralco’s leader is clear: no matter how many players go down, the next Bolt must be ready to rise.
With their campaign beginning to enter dangerous territory, Meralco’s next-man-up mentality will be put to the ultimate test against Rain or Shine.
