Before their first quarterfinas matchup against Barangay Ginebra, Meralco active consultant Nenad Vucinic stressed that it is back to zero for the Bolts.
Speaking during his acceptance speech after the whole Meralco coaching staff was recognized as Coach of the Year in the PBA Press Corps awards, Vucinic said it will be a challenging task to overcome the Gin Kings even after taking the No. 2 seed in Group A with a 7-3 win-loss record.
Ginebra copped the third position out of Group B with a 6-4 record at the end of the eliminations, meaning it is technically the lower-seeded squad in the series.
Still, the Serbian-New Zealander coach said the Bolts must come to the playoff series with a mindset that they have not accomplished anything.
"We have a lot of work to do ahead of us. You are only good as your last game with the playoffs approaching. You have a tough job facing Ginebra with coach Tim [Cone]," said Vucinic, who accepted the Baby Dalupan Trophy along with head coach Luigi Trillo, assistant coaches Gene Afable and Sandro Soriano, and consultant Norman Black.
Meralco will be competing in a playoff series once again after its conquest of last season’s Philippine Cup where the Bolts defeated San Miguel in six games, an accomplishment that led to the coaching staff taking the PBA Press Corps Coach of the Year award.
This time in the quarterfinals, though, they are back to take on the Gin Kings, who have beaten them twice in the Governors' Cup finals.
Game One of the best-of-five finals series is set on Thursday, 5:00 P.M. at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
"We know that the next series is going to be very tough for us and I’ll keep talking to the players (that) the championship is over," said Vucinic, who was still not with the team during those finals defeats to Ginebra.
"We are a nobody again and we have to fight for our reputation again," he stressed.
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