THE Meralco Bolts fell short of becoming the first PBA team to reach the postseason of the East Asia Super League (EASL).
They were just 15 points away of taking their fortunes to the next level but they were stopped by a more prepared and more efficient Ryukyu Golden Kings last Wednesday.
It was a heartbreaking experience for the Bolts, especially when the game was played at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in front of the home crowd.
Still, what Meralco accomplished in this season’s EASL was the best ever achieved by any PBA squad in the tournament.
From losing their first two games of the season and finding themselves on the brink of elimination early, to winning three in a row and putting themselves back in contention, the Bolts still had to battle adversities due to injury absorbed by one of their key players — Rondae Hollis-Jefferson.
There is also the challenge of fitting together their new players to the system following the additions of Jason Brickman and Cady Lalane.
Brickman, Meralco’s first-round pick in this season’s Rookie Draft, was added to the roster ahead of their game against the Golden Kings right after the 5-foot-10 veteran signed a one-year deal with the squad.
Lalane, on the other hand, was loaned by NLEX to take over the spot of the ailing Hollis-Jefferson.
To make things a lot more complicated, the Bolts didn’t have much practice time together as it has been more than a month since they last saw action in the EASL.
Still, the Bolts were still able to assemble a competitive squad. But sheer talent proved to be no match to a more fundamentally sound game of the Golden Kings, whose prolific three-point shooting allowed them to put away their rivals early.
As a team, Ryukyu shot 14 treys with Yoshiyuki Matsuwaki hitting six of nine attempts last Wednesday.
Despite its failed bid, Meralco should be given a tap on the back for being a good soldier.
They’ve been representing the country in the last three years since EASL adapted its own version of Champions League where the best club teams in East Asia are going to compete.
Meralco shouldn’t be the one to represent the PBA, but was requested by the league as San Miguel Beer and TNT begged off.
Yet, despite the difficulty of playing in two leagues with totally different setups, the Bolts dutifully put together a competitive squad and worked double time to achieve not just its best finish in the EASL but also to make its way back to the semifinal round of the PBA after missing the semifinals of all three conferences last season.
The rewards the Bolts are reaping had to be the learning experience of competing against the best club teams in the East Asian region and this will help them along the way when they compete in the upcoming PBA Commissioner’s Cup where imports with no height limit will be seeing action.
Meralco is going to bring back Ismael Romero, its main man up front in the EASL, who will be playing in the PBA for the first time.
While Romero is still dealing with some personal issues after kicking former PBA player Nick Demusis, who played for the Zamboanga Valientes in the Dubai International Tournament a few weeks ago, Bolts management are doing something to help their player in trying to patch things up with the victim.
Looking at the future of the Bolts, the team had shown a lot of potential with CJ Cansino coming off a breakout conference. The up and coming star improved by leaps and bounds as proof of his performance in the just-concluded Philippine Cup with an average of 18.5 points and 4.56 assists.
More good news: Chris Newsome, who hurt his knee and has been sidelined in the last few games of the Bolts in their semifinal encounter against the TNT Tropang 5G, is back in harness.
Then, there’s Brickman and his fellow newcomer, Vince Magbuhos, along with Romero, who are all going to provide depth to this ball club.
There are a lot of things to look forward to for the Bolts and while they’re going to prepare for the Commissioner’s Cup, they’ll be embarking on a new mission of representing the country in the BCL Asia tournament in June.