(CNN Philippines) — Meralco import Josh Davis admitted Tuesday (March 30) that Rain or Shine played better defense during Game 1 of their Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup semifinal duel.
Especially on him.
“They played good defense, and (they) got a lot of people helping. It’s just a great team effort defensively,” said Davis in the aftermath of their 99-86 loss to the Elasto Painters at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
“It was’t just one man guarding me. There were two or three guys helping.”
Related: Late surge allows Rain or Shine to gain 1-0 upperhand over Meralco
Davis had to go through the undersized but rugged Rain or Shine front court bannered by Beau Belga, JR Quinahan, and Raymond Almazan. As a result, the lanky import had to bleed to score a putrid 11 points for the Bolts.
But that wasn’t exactly what spelled doom for Meralco from the vantage point of the one calling the shots.
“(The Elasto Painters) showed a lot of energy in the fourth quarter and we committed a lot of turnovers which translated to fast break points for them,” Meralco coach Norman Black explained.
“Getting back on defense has been a strength of my team this conference, but we didn’t do that tonight so we just need a better job on that.”
As for their adjustments for Game 2, Black said, “We don’t want to make too any changes and adjustments.”
Both teams will have a long layoff before taking on each other in Game 2 of the race-to-three series on Sunday (April 5) at the Big Dome.
