SWITCHING ON: Recharged Bolts aim to halt slump

Games today:

(Ynares Center)

5 p.m. — Rain or Shine vs Meralco

7:30 p.m. — TNT vs Converge

A long break should give defending champion Meralco enough time to reflect and address the lapses that have cost the team back-to-back losses in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup.

Whether the Bolts have learned their lesson will be known when they battle undermanned Rain or Shine today at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.

“Against Rain or Shine, you have to be at your best. They play hard, they push the pace, they put you on your heels, they don’t wait for you to set up and, at the same time, they play great defense,” Meralco coach Luigi Trillo said heading into the 5 p.m. clash.

Meanwhile, Converge seeks a second straight win against TNT in the main game at 7:30 p.m.

The Bolts play with a sense of urgency following a two-game slide before the Holy Week break.

Meralco had a strong start, winning back-to-back games before a sudden power outage.

The Bolts bowed to San Miguel Beer in a rematch of last year’s finals before getting blown out by Phoenix, 97-109, on 13 April for a 2-2 win-loss card tied with the FiberXers.

Trillo is confident about his team halting its slide based on what he saw in practice.

“The guys are moving well. We put in the work this past week and hopefully it will translate into a good game,” he said.

Height will be the Bolts’ biggest advantage with the Elasto Painters missing key frontline pieces.

Burly veteran Beau Belga is ruled out for at least a month to recover from a severe case of vertigo. Datu, on the other hand, is doubtful after straining his calf.

Rain or Shine, however, used its running game and scrappy defense to overrun NorthPort, 113-96, last 16 April for an even 1-1 record.

Trillo is wary that the Elasto Painters will compensate lack of size with speedy guards and wings in Adrian Nocum, Gian Mamuyac, Andrei Caracut, Caelan Tiongson and Anton Asistio.

“We do have size, but sometimes speed can offset that. Size can work against you because you can’t defend off a pick-and-roll, handoffs, or when they run,” he said.

However, Rain or Shine mentor Yeng Guiao would like to believe his squad is still at a disadvantage pitted against Bolts big men Raymond Almazan, Raymar Jose, Cliff Hodge and Brandon Bates.

Then there’s scorers Chris Newsome, CJ Cansino, Aaron Black and Bong Quinto.

“We know we are at a disadvantage in size so the pressure now is on us to be able to play our strong suit, which is playing with a lot more pace to offset our lack of height,” Guiao said.

“We also need to defend better because aside from their bigs, even their guards and wings are taller than us. They were already bigger than us even before we lost our bigs,” he added.

On the other hand, the FiberXers try to string their first consecutive wings after blowing hot and cold in their first four games. Converge routed Blackwater, 111-80, two weeks ago.

The Tropang Giga eye to rebound from an opening day 74-91 blowout at the hands of NLEX.