ILOILO City – The 2023-2024 PBA Commissioner’s Cup out-of-town game between Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots and Meralco Bolts are pushing through tonight despite the electricity problems in the Panay Island.
According to the event operations head Bayani RH Ladrido, the University of San Agustin Gymnasium is well-prepare in the event that there will be power outages during the game scheduled at 6 p.m.
“The USA Gym is well-prepared since they are equipped with a genset (generator set),” Ladrido told Panay News on Friday. “We will make sure that the Magnolia-Meralco game will push through.”
The blackouts in Panay Island, including parts of Guimaras and Negros Occidental, started on Jan. 2 and rotational electricity shut down has been going on until last Thursday.
Meanwhile, Bolts head coach Luigi Trillo said they are determined to pull off a victory against the top-seed Hotshots to bolster their chances for a twice-to-beat incentive in the quarterfinals round.
“It’s all about getting ready. Playoff basketball is upon us. There are a lot of things that could still happen, but we are setting our sights on winning at least two of our next three games,” said Trillo, who arrived here with the entire Bolts team on Friday.
Trillo added that the Bolts’ tight schedule during the holidays allowed them to stay in shape against the Hotshots, which were on a break since December 23.
Meralco did not get the benefit of rest unlike Magnolia as they played two East Asian Super League games against Seoul SK Knights last December 27 and New Taipei Kings on January 3.
“Having games during the holiday break is both good and bad for us,” Trillo said. “The bad is, obviously there’s a lot of sacrifice, but if you look at the good, we’re playing quality games.”
“The teams that we faced (in the EASL) are champion if not championship-worthy teams, so it kind of gets us sharp heading into the PBA playoffs,” added the one-time PBA champion coach.
The Bolts are currently at third spot in the standings with a 6-2 win-loss slate and are favored to land a twice-to-beat incentive in the quarterfinals with still three games left in their schedule./PN
