Black on Meralco Bolts: We overachieved

MANILA, Philippines – The instruction was to foul in the fateful last 5.5 seconds in Game Six Wednesday night but the Meralco Bolts failed to give one and Justin Brownlee delivered the killer trey that scuttled their rivals’ quest for a breakthrough PBA championship.

Even then, the Bolts were convinced they made a great run, reaching the stage of the tourney nobody expected them to be.

 “I think it was very unexpected by most people for us to be in that position. I was very proud what our players have done in the tournament,” said Meralco coach Norman Black.

In their first finals appearance ever, the Bolts took the initiative in the first three games before being beaten three in a row to yield the crown to the Gin Kings.

The runner-up finish in the Governors Cup was a huge turnaround by the Bolts from a last-place windup with a woeful 1-10 mark in the all-Filipino tourney.

“To be quite honest, I never believed we would struggle the way we did. I never believed that it’s gonna be that quite bad (in the first conference). So our plan was to hunt for talented imports, come and fill our needs – basically a center that’s why we had Arinze Onuaku (in the Commissioner’s Cup) and Allen Durham (in the Governors Cup),” said Black.

“Allen is only 6-5 but he plays bigger than his size. We tried to improve as the tourney went on. At the same time, we looked for a good local support. There’s improvement and we are not finished yet,” Black added.

Black said there’s no reason to be discouraged especially as next season is opening in just a few weeks. 

“I want to keep their heads up because all-Filipino is going to start soon. There’s no time to put heads down. There’s no rest for the weary,” said Black.

“It’s my job to improve the team from now and next season. Hopefully, we can bring (Durham) back again and hopefully we get better support when he comes back,” Black also said.