SMART CLARK GIGA CITY – Meralco is not about to rest on its laurels.
The job isn’t done yet for the Bolts, who are planning to further shore up their talent level, especially after coming a win short of making a breakthrough finals appearance in the PBA Philippine Cup.
Without going into details, coach Norman Black hinted at improving the team roster during the offseason with the hope of taking the Bolts to the next level and picking up where the franchise left off in the bubble tournament.
The Bolts were booted out of the race for a finals berth after losing to Barangay Ginebra in their sudden-death game over the weekend, 83-80.
“Let’s face it, Ginebra is a pretty strong team. I don’t have Japeth Aguilar running around in the middle, catching the ball up in the air, and blocking shots,” said Black after Meralco wrapped up its campaing this season.
“I have to try to improve my talent level to be able to catch up with them, or to at least play at par with them,” he added. “That’s really the key. We have to improve the talent level of the team and we will in the offseason.”
Black mentioned about the coming rookie draft, which he sees as a deep one as far as talent level is concerned after the league relaxed some of the previous requirements for incoming freshmen due to the current pandemic.
Meralco will be picking ninth in the draft proceedings.
“I think we'll definitely get a good one. Even though we might have the ninth pick in the draft, I think we’ll still get a very good player. Nobody in particular because when you’re ninth pick you have no clue,” said Black.
Looking back, the Bolts began making their moves since late last year when they acquired big man Raymond Almazan and later on, gunner Allein Maliksi.
Before the bubble season, the franchise tapped Aaron Black from the rookie draft and then got veteran Noy Baclao from the free agent list.
Baclao was unable to join the team in the season restart, but the Bolts still assembled a roster which Black considered as the strongest All-Filipino lineup he had with Meralco.
The Bolts did compete, finishing as the fifth-seeded team at the end of the eliminations. They later dethroned five-time champion San Miguel Beer in the quarterfinals, and then pushed the top-seeded Kings to the limit in the semifinals.
Black said the run was a good experience for Meralco moving forward.
“Experience is the best teacher. You can’t run until you walk. And we walk this conference and hope we’ll be able to run a little bit faster the next conference,” said the 63-year-old coach.
“We’ve never been in the semifinals, let alone in the finals of an All-Filipino,” said Black, noting too, it was the first time in five or six years the Bolts made the playoffs of the Philippine Cup.
But again, it’s about enhancing Meralco’s roster that should take the team to the next level, according to Black.
“It’s not just about the experience, but it’s about trying to improve the team so you can take the next step,” he said.
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