The Meralco Bolts were shooting a league-best 37 percent from the outside in the 2017 Governor’s Cup. But in Game One of the Finals versus Barangay Ginebra Friday, their form was far from what they showed in the conference.
The Orangemen made just eight from the 34 outside shots they took. And for rookie Mike Tolomia, that kind of dismal shooting is what played a huge factor in the 87-102 beating they took at the Quezon Convention Center in Lucena.
“Nag-aaverage kami ng twenty-one three-pointers per game tapos ngayon, thirty-plus na yung tinira namin walo lang pumasok. Mababa talaga percentage,” rued the Far Eastern University standout, moments after the disappointing loss.
“Hindi kami naglaro sa character namin. ‘Di yun yung laro namin talaga.”
The 24-year-old Gilas cadet though was actually one of the few bright spots for the Bolts in the loss. He became head coach Norman Black’s “magic pick” from the bench, providing decent numbers of 10 markers on 4-of-6 shooting.
With that, the Zamboanga-born combo guard deflected credit to his coach, for giving him enough preps for Game One.
“Kagabi kinausap din ako ni coach Norman na maging ready lang ako [at] maging aggressive ako sa loob ng court ‘pag ginamit niya ‘ko, [and] sa tingin ko nagawa ko naman kung ano yung sinabi niya sa’kin,” said Tolomia.
Still, the Bolts are behind 0-1 in the best-of-seven series. And for Tolomia, he hopes that he and the team can learn all the mistakes they had in Game One for a much better showing come Game Two in Sunday, as they aim to equalize.
“Dapat malaman namin na kung ‘di kami maka-shoot sa labas, mas ilapit pa namin [sa basket],” opined the one-time PBA D-League Most Valuable Player.
“Siguro yun yung magiging adjustment na gagawin namin.”
