COLUMN: Nenad's game plan is why Meralco believes it can win it all
COLUMN: Nenad's game plan is why Meralco believes it can win it all
DALLAS -- June Mar Fajardo flexed like the seven-time MVP and 10-time Best Player of the Conference in Game Five of the 2024 PBA Philippine Cup Finals last Friday at the Big Dome.
Knowing that it had as much chance of stopping a flood as cracking the JMF code, Meralco chose to unleash the 'Kraken' instead.
READ: Meralco a win away from first-ever PBA title after holding off SMB
As a result, Fajardo ate plenty with 38 points and 18 rebounds, but the rest of San Miguel outside of CJ Perez starved and the Beermen are now on the edge of elimination after a 92-88 defeat.
Meralco's Brandon Bates and San Miguel's June Mar Fajardo
PHOTO: Jerome Ascano
Allowing Fajardo to go on a rampage wasn't recklessly risky. It was cautiously calculated. It wisely leaned on the odds.
Entering Game Five, San Miguel shot just 43.4 percent from the field (130-of-299) and 33.3 percent from three (31-of-93). So the Bolts gambled that the defending champions aren't just going to turn into a platoon of Allan Caidics.
It worked.
The Beermen shot an abysmal 40 percent from the field in Game 5 (30-of-74) and were just as hapless from above the arc at 22.7 percent (5-for-22).
COACHING DEPTH.
"Nenad is one of the smartest coaches I've played for," a Meralco player told me on the phone after the Bolts crawled to within one game of winning a franchise-first PBA title since entering the league in 2010.
Nenad, of course, is Nenad Vucinic, the active consultant the electric company brought in last May 2022 to turn things around.
Meralco active consultant Nenad Vucinic
PHOTO: Jerome Ascano
Alongside head coach Luigi Trillo, the Serbian from New Zealand hasn't disappointed. His knowledge and wealth of international experience has turned Meralco into instant contenders after an uneven start to the conference.
Hard-nosed defense and communal play on offense have always been the Bolts' trademarks even during the time of Norman Black. Those traits merely got amped up under Vucinic.
"If we follow his game plan, we will always have a chance," added the particular player.
As San Miguel relied on Fajardo almost exclusively, making him toil for 44 minutes and 18 seconds, Meralco countered with a deadly, balanced attack.
Chris Newsome and Allein Maliksi had 22 points each. Chris Banchero and Raymond Almazan combined for 26, while Bong Quinto and Cliff Hodge had 14 between them.
All that added up to 84 points, which easily trumped the 55 that Fajardo and Perez merged for.
SMB NEEDS MORE HELP.
San Miguel can't beat Meralco two in a row with just Fajardo, Perez, and the shooting of Marcio Lassiter. The Beermen need a fourth wheel. They need Chris Ross.
Ross is a 10-time champ, five-time All-Star, and two-time Finals MVP. He is still making a huge impact in the series with 17 rebounds and 23 assists through five games, but his scoring is down, just 14 points total on 4-of-23 shooting.
It might not be a bad idea for coach Jorge Gallent and his staff to unleash this tried and tested warrior who has been through the fire - and come out of it - time and time again.
San Miguel head coach Jorge Gallent
PHOTO: Jerome Ascano
Coach Nenad keeps finding gems over with the Bolts. Maybe it's time for San Miguel to rediscover a treasure hiding in plain sight.
Ross is a finished art, not just a work in progress. Maybe he can paint one more masterpiece for the proud reigning titlists.