The Bolts ended their campaign in the Commissioner’s Cup of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) in style after beating Smart Gilas-Pilipinas on Saturday in Tacloban City.

Meralco salvaged some pride after an 91-87 overtime victory, but it was not enough to save them from being booted out of the short conference.

“Yes, I am disappointed because it has been a while since I missed the playoffs, but I am not broken,” Gregorio told the BusinessMirror on Sunday as the team now prepares for the Governors’ Cup where the Bolts could reenlist import Champ Oguchi.

The team’s supporters were expecting a breakout conference for the newest franchise in the league after acquiring Solomon Mercado and veteran forward Reynel Hugnatan in separate trade deals before the start of the tournament.

Unfortunately, the Manny V. Pangilinan franchise fell victim to the sprint-like elimination phase of the tournament.

Gregorio is not blaming anyone and is accepting their fate with positivity.

“I had reservations early in the conference when I learned about the new format wherein you just play nine games in the elimination round,” he said. “That format is disadvantageous to teams which made drastic roster changes prior to the conference.”

And true enough, Gregorio and the Bolts started very slow, dropping their first four assignments and even a change of import, from Tony Dandridge to Oguchi, didn’t help the cause of Meralco.

And when they started to pile up wins, it was already too late to offset the poor start.

The Bolts ended the Commissioner’s Cup with wins against B-MEG Derby Ace (89-86), Powerade (111-88) and the Nationals, though Gregorio said there were “winnable” games that could have changed their fortunes.

He was referring to their 101-104 overtime loss to Alaska where the Aces played minus import LD Williams late in the game, their 106-109 defeat to Talk ’N Text and a heartbreaking 89-90 loss to San Miguel Beer on a buzzer-beater tip-in by Beermen import Ira Brown.

“Too many close shaves which could have changed the outcome of our conference,” Gregorio said. “But despite missing the playoffs, I am encouraged to move forward having seen great progress in our game.”

With the Governors’ Cup about to start in June, the Bolts have the ample time to work on their chemistry that was evidently lacking in the first stage of the eliminations.

“I know rebuilding a team is a process and I am patient to see this through. We are staying on course in preparation for the third conference.”

Joel Orellana, Business Mirror