PBA 37: Meralco notches first win minus 4 key players

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10/12/2011

Mark Cardona, Sol Mercado, Reynel Hugnatan and Chris Ross were not able to suit for Meralco’s second game of the season but their absence hardly mattered as the other players stepped to give Coach Ryan Gregorio his first win of the season. The Meralco game was a big opportunity for Shopinas.com to get its first ever win but veteran big man Asi Taulava hit fade-away jumper with 25 seconds left to make it a 2-possession ballgame at 77-72.

Shopinas wasted their next possession and was forced to foul Mark Macapagal for the final points of the game. Gabby Espinas led the Bolts in scoring with 16 markers. The three Marks (Macapagal, Isip, and Yee) all scored in double figures. Paolo Hubalde who scored a PBA career high 21 points led Shopinas.

With the win, the Bolts evened their record to 1-1 while dropping the Clickers to the cellar at 0-2. Meralco will face Ryan Gregorio’s former team, the B-Meg Llmados on Saturday while Shopinas battles Petron on Sunday for their next assignments.

The scores:

MERALCO 79 – Espinas 16, Macapagal 14, Isip 11, Yee 10, Lanete 8, Taulava 7, Borboran 6, Timberlake5, Omolon 2, Ballesteros 0.

SHOPINAS.COM 72 – Hubalde 21, Menor 9, Sena 7, Duncil 7, Ritualo 7, Mirza 6, Se 6, Hermida 4, Sison 2, Jazul 2, Canlas 1, Espiritu 0.

Quarterscores: 9-11, 32-31, 58-52, 79-72

 

 

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PBA: Meralco Bolts

 

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The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) season has started and this season the league welcomes a new team.  The Meralco Bolts took over the Sta. Lucia francise.  This team is packed with a good mix of youthful talent with excellent veteran presence.  The coach is Ryan Gregorio who has been the architect of the recent championship runs of Purefoods. The club anointed Mark Cardona as the focal point of its offense and the cornerstone of the new franchise.  He was acquired via trade with “sister team” Talk N’ Text Tropang Texters.

Current Line-Up:

PG	1		Weinstein, Shawn (R)	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	St. Edwards*
SF	3		Omolon, Nelbert	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	PCU*
F	5		Aljamal, Yousif	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	San Beda*
PG	6		Ross, Chris	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Marshall*
F/C	8		Daa, Dennis	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Las Piñas*
SG	9		Cardona, Mark	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	De La Salle*
PF	10		Espinas, Gabby	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	194 lb (88 kg)	PCU*
C	13		Aquino, Marlou (C)	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	Adamson*
SF	14		Mirza, Khasim (R)	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	UST*
G	18		Escobal, Pong	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	San Beda*
G/F	25		Gamalinda, Riego (R)	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	San Beda*
F/C	30		Belga, Beau	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	PCU*
PF	31		Arao, Ford (R)	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Ateneo*
C	55		Taulava, Asi	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	275 lb (125 kg)	Brigham Young

Coaching Staff:

Head coach

• Ryan Gregorio (UP Diliman*)

Assistant coach(es)

• Boyet Fernandez (CSA-Bacolod*)
• Ronnie Magsanoc (UP Diliman*)
• Adonis Tierra (JRU*)
• Patrick Fran (UST*)

The club acquired Asi Taulava from Powerade to bolter their frontline. By the looks of the coaching staff, this team will be a highly defensive team that will be opportunistic in the opponents turnover.  They will not be able to run as much due to the aging big men but they can rely on Cardona to create some mismatches in the mid-range. The team is not expected much to contend this season and a semi-final finish will be an overachievement.

 

Current Record: 1-2 (Tied for 7th)

Related Articles

• Meralco debuts by beating Ginebra in PBA (sports.inquirer.net)
• Meralco team now part of the PBA (sports.inquirer.net)
• Cardona seen as next PBA star (sports.inquirer.net)
• Meralco team eyes PBA title in three years (sports.inquirer.net)
• Taulava to join Meralco (sports.inquirer.net)