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The Future
(Photo credit: bleachersbrew.BlogSpot.com - Sir Rick TY)

Sing no sad songs for the Meralco Bolts.

Despite losing the 2016 PBA Governor’s Cup crown to Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, the future is brighter than ever for head coach Norman Black and his unheralded Bolts. After all, they started the season with an abysmal 1-11 record before working their way up the standings (and eventually the finals) in the last two conferences.

So what is next for the Bolts?

2016 PBA GC Finals: 3 Ginebra vs 4 Meralco

"Yo, you take on LA okay?"
(Photo credit: PBA.Inquirer.net)

When was the last time that both the lower seeded teams in the Semifinals faced off in the PBA Finals?

Usually, a higher seed (or two) are almost, always locks for a spot(s) in the title series. However, in the 2016 PBA Governor’s Cup, we saw both the 1st ranked TNT Katropa and 2nd San Miguel Beermen fall at the hands of this entry’s protagonists who are ranked lower and should technically be “weaker.”

Right?

Wrong. They just beat the top seeds, so their being supposedly “weak” is moot.

First to make it into the PBA Finals are the Meralco Bolts of Coach Norman Black. After an embarrassing campaign to open the season, the Bolts’ true form started to surface once they were able to work with a dominant center as reinforcement. We saw flashes of how good the team could be in the Commissioner’s Cup when they had mammoth import Arinze Onuaku and now we are seeing even more with Allen Durnham.

On the other side of the fence are the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel; already destined and penciled in for greatness after acquiring the services of 2x PBA Grand Slam coach Tim Cone earlier this year. While they are missing the services of 7”0 slotman Greg Slaughter, everyone has appeared to step up and rally around import Justin Brownlee who was not even their original choice to start the conference.

Two grand slam coaches, two team-oriented philosophies: who wins?

PBA GC QF 4 Meralco vs 5 Mahindra

Don’t be surprised if this match-up will largely go under-the-radar, basketball hype-wise, considering the styles of both teams involved.

The Meralco Bolts, though they have athletic wonders Chris Newsome (32mpg/13ppg/4rpg/4apg) and Cliff Hodge (32/12/7/2), mostly rely on their blue collar approach on the defensive end while the Mahindra Enforcers, still cannot (and most likely will not) shake the shadow cast by their “head coach” Manny Pacquiao.

Still, this should be a fun and exciting match-up if you consider how Enforcers’ point guard L.A. Revilla (30/9/4/5) will be pitted against veteran Jimmy Alapag (27/9/3/6). In wrestling parlance, if TNT Katropa’s Jayson Castro is the current gold standard, Triple H, then Alapag would be Ric Flair. Batista (the next-in-line) would be a toss-up between Ginebra’s L.A. Tenorio and San Miguel’s Alex Cabagnot while Revilla would be the wide-eyed, snot-nosed kid Randy Orton.

*High-fives to all of our sports-entertainment brethren*