Following the end of Meralco’s PBA Season 48 Commissioner’s Cup campaign on Sunday night, the team now prioritizes giving its players a much-needed break.
Bolts head coach Luigi Trillo said that his staff will be looking for ways to make sure that the team earns a well-deserved rest and recovery after going through possibly the most hectic schedule they had to endure.
“We have to find a way to give them a break. Kasi [since] last year, tuloy-tuloy eh,” he said moments after their 88-84 quarterfinal loss to Phoenix Super LPG, Sunday night at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
“We just didn’t have a break.”
Meralco is no stranger to playing through busy calendars. The squad gamely waved the Philippine flag in the FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2018 in Thailand while in the midst of the Governors’ Cup.
But it may not compare to how tough their 2023-24 campaign was. Aside from playing in the ongoing conference, they’re also representing the league in the East Asia Super League (EASL) home-and-away season.
However, it’s not just the pan-regional competition that has made the Bolts a spent bunch. The veteran mentor shared that they often had hard practices since his and active consultant Nenad Vucinic’s appointment last May.
It was in that same month when the PBA On Tour took place – an exhibition series that ran until July 30 as the league tried to keep its teams active during the break held for the country’s FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 hosting.
(C) Doha Active Sports
Shortly after the World Cup, Meralco continued the grind and flew to Qatar for the 2023 Doha International Basketball Championship from September 25-30.
Mid-October saw the team fly to Bacolod to face Rain or Shine in a Masskara Festival exhibition as part of their build-up for the PBA season.
Season 48 then came in November, and that also proved to be the start of an even busier campaign, since it coincided with the EASL tournament.
In fact, even if their conference has ended, the Bolts will still have to play an EASL road game versus Korean side Seoul SK on February 7.
That’s why it’s imperative for Trillo and Co. to find the best possible ways to give their players rest. That goes double for those who have been logging heavy minutes such as vets Chris Newsome and Cliff Hodge, among others.
“As a coach, I appreciate that, kasi it gave us a chance to gain experience, in playing champion teams from all over Asia. But we’ll have to find the time,” said the champion mentor, who wrapped up his first full conference at the helm.
“I think we’ll have probably 10 days, then probably practice three or four days… Non-bearing na ‘yun ng EASL, maybe we’ll let the younger guys play in that.
“Newsome needs a break. Cliff needs a break. All the guys who played heavy minutes need a break. We’ll find out,” he furthered.
An idea they could explore, said Trillo, is to give the younger players more exposure against the Knights. They could also possibly go with an all-Filipino lineup as part of their preparation for the Season 48 Philippine Cup, which opens in March.
“At this point, we haven’t seen that far, I think we’re just in exploratory talks na we have to give our vets some breaks,” he said.
“The import situation, we’ll discuss it … we have time naman to think about that.
“Shonn [Miller] is here, he can stay. But if not, we might have to consider that, if they’ll allow us to play all-Filipino. And I’m OK to do that. Because you want to give those guys some experience din,” he added.
