Meralco coach Trillo tips hat off to Phoenix: 'The future is bright for them'

Meralco head coach Luigi Trillo had nothing but good words for the young Phoenix squad which booted them out in the PBA Commissioner's Cup quarterfinals, 88-84, on Sunday.

The Bolts last Wednesday forced a rubber match against the twice-to-beat Fuel Masters in a triple overtime affair, but eventually fell to the hands of the Jamike Jarin-mentored squad earlier.

"Hats off to Phoenix. [It's a] well-coached team, they have some young guys there at their prime," Trillo said while commending the efforts of Jason Perkins, Javee Mocon, Kenneth Tuffin, Tyler Tio and import Johnathan Williams. 

"You look at them, what they built through the draft, they kept those guys, you can see the future is bright for them."

Despite the loss, Trillo said he was proud of their valiant effort. 

"The nice thing with our team is we did not quit. We were down 15, but naibaba namin ng four points," he said. 

(We cut the deficit within four points.)

Add to that, Meralco reached the quarters despite an eventful year for them — having played through injuries, Norman Black being assigned as consultant, and playing also in the East Asia Super League.

"We're okay. The thing though is we've been joining a lot of leagues which we are proud to represent but I think it took its toll."

With the Philippine Cup coming and moving forward, Meralco looks forward to resting their key players such as Cliff Hodge and Chris Newsome.

However, Trillo also hopes to develop young players to lay a stronger foundation for the team.

"I think Rain or Shine or Phoenix, you look at their team, they are really up and coming," Trillo said.

"We're doing okay but we need to also consider moving forward [and] improving our lineup," he added.

During the 2023 PBA Rookie Draft, Meralco signed Brandon Bates. 

"I think we need to develop from the guys we have right now, look forward to All-Filipino, and next year we have two draft picks."

—JKC, GMA Integrated News