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The Future
(Photo credit: bleachersbrew.BlogSpot.com - Sir Rick TY)

Sing no sad songs for the Meralco Bolts.

Despite losing the 2016 PBA Governor’s Cup crown to Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, the future is brighter than ever for head coach Norman Black and his unheralded Bolts. After all, they started the season with an abysmal 1-11 record before working their way up the standings (and eventually the finals) in the last two conferences.

So what is next for the Bolts?

Well if the PBA Finals taught them anything, it is most probably to be the urgent need for more firepower. Import Allen Durnham did his best, but he was eventually scouted and cancelled out by Ginebra’s unforgiving defense while Jimmy Alapag, God bless the Captain’s mighty heart, couldn’t see his team through the series because of an injury. Add the fact that Jared Dillinger, who was playing exceptional basketball in the eliminations and was starting to look like the Daredevil of old, didn’t even suit up in any of the games played in the PBA Finals.

Basically, newly-minted PBA Rookie of the Year Chris Newsome was left to work with Durnham, Reynel Hugnatan and the likes of Anjo Caram, Kelly Nabong and Brian Faundo. That’s not a knock on the last three guys, but you wouldn’t exactly expect them to produce in tight situations. Cliff Hodge had his moments, but he hesitated quite a number of times which showed his lack of “big game” experience.

Looking at the roster, there’s still Rabeh Al Hussaini, Ken Bono, Ryan Buenafe and Rey Guevarra. Though they were all collegiate stars, they have made little to no dent in the PBA. Al Hussaini’s “comeback” has been stalled somewhat by an injury, and mostly because he couldn’t play defense the way Coach Norman probably wanted him to. Bono had some moments on offense, but he’s pretty much on the same boat as Al Hussaini on defense.

Versus wide-bodied guards like those of Ginebra, we were surprised that Buenafe wasn’t given a shot. It is not like Mark Caguioa and Jayjay Helterbrand would have crossed him up and beat him to the basket (it is 2016 not 2008), and Caguioa pretty much used his heft and IQ to score inside the paint against the “skinnier” Newsome. Buenafe is a local-bred player and knows the “art” of low post basketball (read; gulangan sa ilalim) so yeah, maybe they could have used him a bit to at least give Newsome a breather from having to carry both offense AND defense.

Guevarra is a very good dunker.

Fortunately for the Bolts, the coming 2016 PBA Draft could very well address their lack of scorers. Even if they were to pick in the middle part, they could land anyone from a Kevin Ferrer, Roger Pogoy, Carl Cruz or Mike Tolomia from the “special” Gilas draft, and another guard from the “regular” one. We have always said that Coach Norman runs almost the same things at the Bolts with the one he did during his time in Ateneo, which is why the Bolts give off that “college ugly ball” vibe, so adding younger pieces should be perfect.

As for the frontline, we think that Hodge, Hugnatan, Bono, Nabong, Faundo and Al Hussaini are as good as you can get in the PBA if you don’t have a 6”9 giant to spare. Faundo’s a bit outsized at both power forward and center, which is one of the reasons why he was moved to small forward (the other being that the Bolts simply had no one else other than Dillinger) but hey. Maybe Al Hussaini will be better next season and commit to defense.

Lastly, Newsome. Wow. At first we felt that he was being showcased by Coach Norman rather excessively, which is why he was able to secure the ROY award. But this kid is crazy good to the point that his contributions to the team and the way he plays reminds us of former Tanduay stalwart (Fil-Sham) Sonny Alvarado—same explosive hops and attack mentality. We really didn’t expect this of Newsome, and dismissed him as more of a role player ala Jon Ordonio, but boy were we wrong (it’s a good thing the Ateneo faithful are a forgiving bunch).

Amer, Newsome, Dillinger, Hodge and a center. Al Hussaini needs to get with the program quick or find himself left behind.