PBA: Meralco, Powerade aim to advance to the quarterfinals

It's a win or go home game on Friday for the Meralco Bolts and Powerade Tigers when they clash in the first of two games that will have a huge impact on the PBA Commissioner's Cup standings. In this case, the winning team advances to the quarterfinals against an as-of-yet undetermined opponent, whoever wins between the B-MEG Llamados and the Barangay Ginebra Kings in the second game. The loser on the other hand, gets to start their summer vacation early. What happened before Despite Solomon Mercado's return from injury, the Bolts still collapsed in the end to a Powerade Tigers squad in turmoil, fresh from an aborted Marcio Lassiter trade and swirling rumors about the club's future in the league, 94-82, last February 26. With the game tied at 68-all, the Bolts took the lead early in the final quarter on a Mark Macapagal three-pointer, but the Tigers countered with a 15-2 run that gave them an 83-73 advantage that they rode all the way to the end of the game. Afterwards, head coach Bo Perasol reiterated his team's mission, which was to win a championship, saying, "We have to do that. I don't think any tinkering of the team would do that [referring to the Lassiter deal]. We;re here to stay and win the championship, and it's a tall order."

Meralco	February 26, 2012	Powerade
82	Points	94
42.9%	Three-point percentage	31.8%
38.8%	Field goal percentage	43.6%
14	Free throws attempted	27
21	Offensive rebounds	14
21	Turnovers	16
6	Fast break points	15
13	Second chance points	7
17	Bench scoring	8

This is a difficult game to use to judge the Meralco Bolts because of certain circumstances, namely Mercado's return, and the switch of import from Jarrid Famous to Earl Barron. Having to work in two players into an offense with both expecting to touch the ball a lot is no easy thing to do, and as such, it becomes sort of understandable that the team collapsed late, losing the second half scoring battle 52-35. On the court, Powerade shot better from the field and got to the line more, but Meralco was able to compensate by getting second-chance points. The Bolts messed themselves up though with a team-worst 21 turnovers, which the Tigers converted into 16 turnover points, just slightly over the margin of victory. With their own rotation problems, Meralco was unable to take advantage of Powerade's own such woes, as the Tigers got just eight bench points in support of their starters, their second-lowest figure in the Commissioner's Cup. That loss by the Bolts was the middle of a three-game skid, but afterwards, they managed to turn things around, finishing the tourney 3-1. Powerade's victory, on the other hand, was the second of two straight, but they managed just two more wins from that point onward.   Outlooks

Meralco	AVERAGES	Powerade
92.33	Points	101.44
14.56	Three-point shots attempted	27.56
15.44	Free throws attempted	27.56
52.11	Rebounds	52.44
19.44	Assists	22.56
24.78	Fouls	20.33
16.89	Turnovers	16.11
21.78	Bench points	18.33
93.20	Possessions	97.01
90.78	Points allowed	99.67
41.80%	Field goal percentage allowed	43.19%
47.44	Rebounds allowed	53.67
16.00	Turnover points allowed	15.00

  The Powerade Tigers play fast and loose, averaging the most possessions of any team, with a majority of their shots coming from beyond the arc. They lead the league in three-point attempts taken, and they also happen to convert the highest percentage of treys, thanks in part to excellent ball movement. That said, they're still going to miss some triples, which lead to long rebounds that usually go their opponents' way, which explains why they concede the most boards. Conversely, the Bolts don't quite excel in any particular category, but they do have a huge weakness, which is they average the most turnovers, and as a result, concede the most turnover points. Luckily for them, the Tigers are just a fraction behind them in those regards, balancing it out somewhat. For Meralco to win, they'll need to slow the game down and hope their bench can be the difference when someone like Mark Cardona takes a rest. Powerade, on the other hand, will try to take a page out of their script from last conference and take the long road back to the Finals. And in order for that to happen, they'll need to be sizzling from downtown and hope fatigue doesn't set in for their starters. X-Factors Asi re-energized

Versus Air21	MIN	PTS	FG%	FTM	FTA	REB	BLK
Asi Taulava	38.0	16.0	55.56%	6.0	8.0	10.0	1.0

Taulava's been more of a role player than a dominant force in his stint with Meralco, but he's more than capable of putting up flashes of his old self. Such was the case in the team's elimination round finale, when he took on the Air21 Express and dominated them with a 16-10 double-double. More importantly, it was the first time he hit double figures in points and rebounds, doing it in the same game to boot. Why it's unlikely he can pull it off in back-to-back games, he'd be a great "in case of emergency" player, especially given how Powerade's local big men are a bit lacking in the height department. Has Casio hit the rookie wall?

Last three games	PTS	3P%	FG%	FTA	REB	AST	FLS
Jvee Casio	6.33	13.33%	26.67%	0.67	2.33	5.67	3.33

  The overall number one pick in this season's draft seems to have hit a wall as of late, especially when it comes to his own shooting numbers. He’s failed to hit double-digit scoring in their last three games, leaving it up to fellow rookie Lassiter and Gary David to shoulder the offense and it's primarily because he's lost his touch. In that span, he's only made two triples, including a 0-for-4 effort against B-MEG, and overall, he's merely 8-for-30 on all his attempts. At the very least, he's still finding his teammates, with 5.67 assists, but if opponents start playing off Casio due to his inability to connect, those open teammates are not going to be there anymore. — JVP, GMA News