Tony Bishop was a marked man, Wednesday.
One of the more prolific scorers in the ongoing PBA Governors’ Cup was hardly a factor for Meralco in their semifinal series opener versus Magnolia as he got limited to easily his lowest output to date in the conference.
Averaging 28.8 points prior, the Panamanian winger was held to just 10 markers as the Bolts absorbed an 80-94 defeat.
Bishop took responsibility for the loss, which saw his side blow a 17-point lead on the way to falling 0-1 in the best-of-five joust.
“I take all the blame for this,” he said moments after the match at the Mall of Asia Arena.
“I was supposed to be coming here, score the basketball, and help my team win basketball games. And today, I didn’t do that.”
Bishop, who laid an egg in the second quarter, shot a dismal 5-of-19 from the floor, including 0-for-6 from deep — this, after shooting four treys in a 32-point outing that powered Meralco past San Miguel in the quarters.
Coincidentally, his lowest production prior to this was also versus Magnolia. There, he had 19 in their 85-88 defeat, where they lost a 16-point lead.
The 32-year-old knew that the Hotshots would plot defensive schemes, especially against him, and he could only acknowledge their effort.
“I knew they’re gonna come out with that kind of aggressiveness and defense. It wasn’t surprising but they did a good job today,” he said.
“They’re a well-rounded team. They’re very aggressive on the defensive end. They do a lot of trapping, they do a lot of digging in when you dribble the basketball. They made it tough on me tonight,” he furthered.
Will there be a conscious effort to go back to his old ways in Game Two? For Bishop, none of that matters, since all that he wants is the W.
“Imma let the game come to me. Tonight, it didn’t come as planned. If I score 30, cool, and we win. That’s all that matters to me. I really wanna win the game,” he said.
“If I would’ve scored 10 like I did tonight and we would’ve won, that would’ve been perfect.”
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