PBA Philippine Cup

Luigi Trillo guides Meralco out of slump as stand-in for Norman Black

Delfin Dioquino

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Luigi Trillo guides Meralco out of slump as stand-in for Norman Black

AT THE HELM. Luigi Trillo and Meralco see off a gutsy challenge from Rain or Shine.

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Calling the shots for a PBA team for the first time since 2014, Luigi Trillo takes care of business as Meralco rediscovers its winning ways

MANILA, Philippines – Luigi Trillo still got it.

Calling the shots for a PBA team for the first time since 2014, Trillo guided Meralco out of its slump in the PBA Philippine Cup as he filled in for Norman Black in a gritty 77-73 win over Rain or Shine on Wednesday, July 6.

Black flew to the United States to attend to his ailing mother.

“It has been eight years for me, so I was not in my flow. But the players chipped in, they were vocal. I let them talk before the game and our coaching staff helped each other,” said Trillo.

Trillo won the PBA Coach of the Year plum in 2013 after leading Alaska to its last championship in franchise history.

However, Trillo left the Aces a year later and joined the Bolts’ coaching staff headed by Black.

Initially, Meralco first assistant coach Ronnie Magsanoc was supposed to stand in for Black, but he is in Singapore as part of Gilas Pilipinas’ delegation for the FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup.

“[For] eight years, I had not handled a team so I needed to get used to it. I was telling the coaching staff, coach Norman is so quick in terms of adjustments, it was new to me, it was all coming in,” Trillo said.

“When you’re an assistant coach, you’re assigned something. But now, it was hard because I had not coached for eight years. The good thing was the coaching staff helped each other and we found a way to get the W.”

As Black is expected to miss more games, Trillo said Meralco is keen on building on its victory as it makes a push for a quarterfinal berth, with Barangay Ginebra standing in its way as its next foe on July 13.

“I’m sure coach Norman would want to be here and we’re just holding the fort. But obviously he has more important things [to take care of], his mom,” Trillo said.

“Hopefully we can get a couple more wins so when he gets back, at least we have a shot entering the playoffs, better chance.” – Rappler.com

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Delfin Dioquino

Delfin Dioquino dreamt of being a PBA player, but he did not have the skills to make it. So he pursued the next best thing to being an athlete – to write about them. He took up journalism at the University of Santo Tomas and joined Rappler as soon as he graduated in 2017.