By REYNALD MAGALLON
As the old saying goes, ‘never sell the bear’s skin before one has killed the beast.
Any wise man knows that it’s not good to count a champion team out – not as early as Game 1 and especially not against a potent team like San Miguel.
Meralco is not falling into the traps of complacency and believes it will have the work cut out for itself in Game 2.
For one, the series opening loss in the best-of-seven Finals series may have only poked the bear inside the defending champions who are now surely raring to get back on the Bolts after defeating them twice this season already.
“This team is a championship team, a dynasty team. They are capable of doing amazing things,” said Newsome who was one of the catalysts of Meralco’s 93-86 Game 1 win over SMB, finishing with 18 point alongside backcourt running mate Chris Banchero
While the Bolts had the Beermen’s number in the two games that they played in the Philippine Cup, a 1-0 lead meant nothing against a team that had gone through it all in the Finals including recovering from a hole as deep as a 0-3 deficit in the Finals – now known as the famed ‘Beeracle’ run.
“You were all there for the Beeracle, you know that you can never count this team out. All I know is they’re going to go back to the drawing board and they’re going to find ways to try to execute much better and to counter everything that we did tonight,” added the high-flying guard.
While winning the series opener certainly gives Meralco a huge boost in morale and confidence in the best-of-seven series – only the third time it won Game 1 through seven such affairs – Newsome said the Bolts are keeping their feet grounded against a proud Beermen team.
“That’s how good of an organization they are – they’re very smart all the way through. They’re proven winners, so you can never count out the heart of a champion. For us, it’s just about staying humble and staying focused because we know what we’re trying to accomplish,” he added.
Newsome also played down Meralco’s two wins so far against SMB, noting that there’s no real way in cracking the code that SMB is and the Bolts were simply playing with their best effort.
“It’s almost impossible to crack the San Miguel code. You just got to go out and play your best basketball and just give them a great team effort,” stressed Newsome
“And that’s what our job is, to continue to play as a team, continue to believe in what coaching staff has done, and that’s all we can do as players, as soldiers – just go out there and do our jobs,” he added.
