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San Miguel's Chris Ross

Romwel Anzures

ABS-CBN News

<div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-color:rgb(0, 0, 0);min-height:13.8px"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1718698147689IMG_4234.jpeg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>San Miguel’s Chris Ross against Meralco in the 2024 PBA Philippine Cup Finals. Photo from PBA Images.</div>MANILA — San Miguel star Chris Ross went through a tough six-game finals series against his former squad, the Meralco Bolts.The Beermen floor general, who spent his first seasons in the PBA donning Meralco&#x27;s orange, blue, and white, absorbed a rare championship round defeat as they faltered in the 2024 PBA Philippine Cup Finals. <div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/2024/6/16/meralco-makes-history-clinches-first-franchise-championship-at-smbs-expense-2028">READ: Meralco makes history, clinches first franchise championship at San Miguel&#x27;s expense</a></div>But even if they fell short of winning all the titles in Season 48, Ross had no excuses for their defeat. &quot;The better team won. They&#x27;re a well-oiled machine,&quot; he said last Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, while also hailing the Bolts for their showing against the league&#x27;s winningest team.&quot;It was fun, though. Each game was down to the wire, there were no blowouts, so give credit to them. Even in games where we felt like we should&#x27;ve won, they came back like nothing happened.&quot;&quot;That takes mental toughness. For a team to be mentally tough after so many heartbreaks, it&#x27;s a testament to their leaders. Whether it&#x27;s Chris Newsome, Cliff Hodge, coach Luigi [Trillo], coach Nenad [Vucinic], they stayed mentally strong.&quot;&quot;To win tough games and to win the Finals, you have to be mentally tough. They were that,&quot; he continued.Ross also gave Hodge, whom he has a deep relationship with, all the praises that the energetic forward deserves.&quot;I just told him I was proud of him. Like I&#x27;ve told you before, he&#x27;s my rookie, so I know what this means to him,&quot; revealed Chris.&quot;I told him I am proud of him and just to keep on going.&quot;Hodge and the rest of the Nenad Vucinic and Luigi Trillo-coached squad not only overcame the mighty SMB but also won their first championship ever in the PBA since joining in 2010. And while Ross was a part of the first batch of Bolts who competed and made a name for themselves in the league 14 years ago, he said that no part of him is happy with Meralco&#x27;s win. &quot;No. We lost, man,&quot; emphasized the former Gilas Pilipinas guard.&quot;But I congratulated all those people, those who aren&#x27;t in jerseys, all the utilities who were there when I was there, and all the higher-ups over there, and I know what this means to them.&quot;&quot;I told them I am happy for them, but I wish we would&#x27;ve won.&quot;&quot;They deserve it, man. They beat us fair and square. We just got to take it as it is, then bounce back at the next conference,&quot; he added.<div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/2024/6/16/finals-mvp-chris-newsome-dedicates-first-pba-title-to-meralco-employees-2256">READ: Finals MVP Chris Newsome dedicates Meralco&#x27;s first PBA title to staff, linemen, employees</a></div>Moving forward, what&#x27;s more important for the Beermen, according to Ross, is how they will be dealing with the setback. &quot;Obviously, we fell short of our goal to win the championship, but we won last conference, so hopefully, we get a good import in and try to win the next one,&quot; he shared.&quot;We lost and fell short of our goal, sometimes that happens. We can&#x27;t win all the time, but it&#x27;s a test of character, how you bounce back when you don&#x27;t meet your goals. I&#x27;m excited about what&#x27;s in store for us. Hopefully, we could get the adjustments and get back to winning.&quot;But for now, rest and recovery are Chris&#x27; personal goals.&quot;Refresh, man. Get home, see my family for a couple of weeks, then get back to work,&quot; he said. <div><ivs-player data-ivs-key="e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603" data-ivs-spid="3001339" data-ivs-vid="3057475"></ivs-player></div><script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/loader.js"></script>

San Miguel star Chris Ross went through a tough six-game finals series against his former squad, the Meralco Bolts.

San Miguel star Chris Ross went through a tough six-game finals series against his former squad, the Meralco Bolts.

Bolts pioneer Chris Ross after Finals loss against Meralco: I am happy for them, but I wish we won

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Bolts pioneer Chris Ross after Finals loss against Meralco: I am happy for them, but I wish we won

Romwel Anzures,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jun 18, 2024 05:06 PM PHT

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basketball

PBA

ABSSports

Meralco Bolts

Chris Ross

San Miguel Beermen

PBA Finals

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