NLEX import Cady Lalanne battles the same team he first played for right in his Philippine debut.
Lalanne and the Road Warriors clash with the Meralco Bolts in the main game of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Friday at the Ynares Center in Montalban, marking the first time he’ll be meeting the team since suiting up for the franchise two months ago.
The 33-year-old native of Haiti described the Bolts as a very good team.
“I saw the team play last time (versus Macau), and they played pretty in a back and forth game,” he said of Meralco.
READ NLEX import Lalanne impresses in brief time on loan to Meralco
Lalanne was briefly on loan for the Bolts during their EASL campaign as a last-minute replacement for the injured Rondae Hollis-Jefferson.
Since he was among the first import to arrive, Lalanne ended up being tapped by Meralco for its do-or-die encounter against the Ryukyu Golden Kings for a spot in the playoffs.
Lalanne gave a good account of himself by finishing as the second leading scorer for the Bolts with 18 points, but lack of chemistry with fellow import Ismael Romero and naturalized player Justin Brownlee proved too much to overcome in an 88-79 loss that dashed the team’s quarterfinal hopes.
Now he’ll try to bring his game opposite the Bolts.
“They’ve got great players over there. I played with them so I know some of the guys,” said Lalanne, who averaged 26.0 points, 15.0 rebounds, and 1.3 assists with the team in the EASL.
“I’ve got kind of an idea what defense they’ll be doing on me,” added the import. “It’s going to be a good game. And I’m just looking forward to playing against them.”
Adding thrill to the game is the battle for solo second place in the standings. Meralco and NLEX are currently tied at 5-1 and both teams are on a three-game winning run.
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