Blackwater coach Leo Isaac hopes history repeats itself in qurterfinals vs Meralco
POWERADE of the old Coca-Cola franchise was the last eighthseeded squad to overcome a twice-to-win disadvantage to beat top ranked B-Meg in the 2012 PBA Philippine Cup.
But Blackwater coach Leo Isaac is no stranger from experiencing such similar situation as he saw Mobiline, a team where he once part of the coaching staff and then the no. 1 seed in 1999, lost to no. 8 Ginebra San Miguel during their quarterfinal showdown.
Mr. Isaac and the Elite could rewrite history with a win against the top-seeded Meralco Bolts today at the Araneta Coliseum.
The Elite edged the Bolts, 9291 on Tuesday to set up a winnertake-all encounter for a semifinals berth. Star, which defeated NLEX, took the first seat in the Final Four.
Mr. Isaac is a firm believer of the old saying: “history repeats itself.”
“When I was asked by the courtside reporter, ‘ how does it feel facing the no. 1 team at the end of the eliminations’ and I said it’s going to be tough to encourage the players that it was done before, the no. 1 team getting booted out by the last qualifier. All we have to do is play team basketball, give our 100% and maybe, we can be one of those teams which can boot out a no. 1 team in the playoffs,” said Mr. Isaac.
Behind another solid game from import Henry Walker and timely contributions from Allein Maliksi and Mike DiGrego-rio, the Elite stunned the no. 1 team Bolts.
An NBA veteran, Mr. Walker set up Mr. Maliksi for the winning jumper, but the win could also mean the Elite should brace for a tougher battle against the Bolts, who had just finished their best ever record in the eliminations franchise history.
“We know we just woke up a monster,” said Mr. Walker. “I tried to warn the guys about that. You just poked the bear and the bear will turn around. We’ve got to be ready because they’re gonna be ready. I’ve got the utmost respect to Coach (Norman) Black. I know they have a game plan and they’re gonna come back.”
But Mr. Black remains unfazed as he tries to regroup a Bolts squad that finished runnerup in the same tournament last season.
“It’s a disappointing loss, but we’re trying to get the twice-tobeat advantage and we’re taking advantage of it. There were two people who were hurting us and that’s Walker and (Mike) DiGre-gorio. I didn’t have any expectations on who is going to take the last shot,” added Mr. Black.
Mr. Black is now thinking of adding Mr. Maliksi on his game plan. —