Black sees long road ahead for title-hungry Meralco

MANILA, Philippines – From his view along the sidelines witnessing Meralco toil in an 18-point deep hole and later falter in a last-ditch comeback attempt, Norman Black could only see the long road and pile of work ahead for his team in the 2016 PBA Philippine Cup. 

“I’m not seeing any positives right now because we just lost,” the 11-time PBA champion coach said after second-year team Blackwater Elite stunned his Bolts, 92-90, on Wednesday, November 4. 

“I was happy with the second half and the fact that we did come back in the game and had a chance to win, but at the same time, I wasn’t happy with the first half because we were listless. We have a lot of things we have to work on.”

Meralco has yet to win in two games so far, and with a number of new – and better – faces on the team, Black also rues the struggle for chemistry. (WATCH: Chris Newsome ejected for flagrant 2 elbow foul)

“No, [chemistry is not there yet],” he noted. “We got better team chemistry last year, even though we have better players this year.” 

“It may take some time, but time is what we have right now. While we’re not happy with how we started, we just have to keep on working hard to improve,” he added.

Among those new faces is San Beda College standout and this year’s 7th overall pick Baser Amer, who had a scoreless debut as he missed all 4 attempts from the field and committed two turnovers. However, he did grab one rebound and dished out an assist.

“He only practiced for us 4 times, so he doesn’t really know the system. He forced a few shots today, a couple of turnovers, so it’s not a good start for him in the PBA,” Black said of the playmaker he expects to lead the team in the future. 

“Baser is a really good player. He has good vision, he can push the basketball, he can score the basketball. We’re hoping he will be the point guard for this team eventually.”

It will be an uphill climb for a Meralco team eyeing to finally fulfill potentials and become contenders 5 years into the league, but Black plans to take his time and do the work.

The Bolts, which suffered a lopsided loss to defending champions San Miguel Beer a week ago, have Talk ’N Text, Barako Bull, Barangay Ginebra, and the Star Hotshots lined up as opponents in the coming weeks. – Rappler.com