MACAU Black Bears coach Garrett Kelly was impressed with the play of Meralco in their face-off in the EASL recently.
One player that he was left impressed was Meralco import Allen Durham, who was a tough foe for them in their 97-85 defeat last Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
READ: Meralco Bolts open EASL campaign with blowout win over Macau
“Allen Durham is just, he is a bully,” said the American coach, who once part of the University of Memphis college program handled by former NBA star Anfernee ‘Penny’ Hardaway. “The guy is built like one of the Ninja Turtles.”
The 36-year-old Durham showed he can still deliver in the international game as he had 17 points and 11 rebounds for Bolts, two days after they were ousted by Barangay Ginebra in the PBA Governors’ Cup quarterfinals via sweep.
Durham shot 7-of-13 from the field in their first game in the contest. And even though he only made one of his five three-point shots in the game, Kelly said they knew that the longtime PBA import can also deliver from the outside.
“Can’t get around him, puts his shoulder on you, he is going to score around you. He scores with the right hand, scores with the left hand. He didn’t made his jump shots but I know he can make them. We just kinda gamble on that, let him shoot it, and let’s live with it, try to box him out and get the rebounds,” said Durham.
As a group, Meralco is a chore for Macau especially with the ballclub still in peak fitness from their recently concluded PBA wars.
“That whole group as a whole has been together for a while. I think they just finished their Governors’ Cup season. We have about six practices together and one scrimmage,” said Kelly.
“So we’ve got some time to learn each other. But that group (Meralco), you can tell. They’ve got situations where we zoned them, they react. We (man-to-man) them, we pressed them, we ran some different sets, we had some different things, we moved around, and they just reacted.
“Good team, really good players across. They are professionals. Deep into the fourth, you can tell they are well-conditioned, ready to continue make adjustments, and keep playing,” said Kelly.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
