Raymond Almazan and his Meralco squad will be ready come the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup best-of-three quarterfinals, whoever they may face.
With the Bolts’ 105-89 win against Terrafirma on Thursday evening at the SMART Araneta Coliseum, the team solidified itself in either the fourth or the fifth spot, waiting for the other results.
And there can only be two options for Meralco to face in the first round of the playoffs, Ginebra or Meralco depending on the results of their remaining matches.
“Kapag quarterfinals nag-iiba na ‘yung tema ng laro eh. Nire-ready kami ng coaching staff kahit sinong makatapat namin ready naman kami everytime,” said Almazan on the possibility of facing either Ian Sangalang or the duo of Japeth Aguilar and Christian Standhardinger.
“Ready lang kami either Magnolia or Ginebra.”
The Barangay will play Phoenix later today while the Hotshots will have Blackwater tomorrow at 6 pm at the Big Dome.
The two squads are both at 7-3, while the Bolts finished at 7-4.
Meralco assistant coach Luigi Trillo, who’s been calling the shots lately, echoed the sentiment of his big man, bracing for either team they get.
“Both strong. We know they’re both champions. Parehong malakas, mabigat pero nothing better than being in a situation to compete tapos ready yung mga players namin,” said Trillo.
“If you’re the players, you want to play the favorites and I think we all know based on what they’ve done, they’re heavy all around,” he added, referring to the crowd darlings.
The Bolts are still without head coach Norman Black who is still in the States for his departed mother.
Fortunately, Meralco went 4-1 with him on indefinite leave, and will be riding a two-game winning streak come quarters.
“Kailangan talaga namin itong game sa Terrafirma para going to quarterfinals may kumpyansa kami. Nakuha nga namin,” said Almazan.
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The second game of each PBA gameday is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
