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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Basketball devider Norman Black hopes Meralco catches up in PBA arms race

Norman Black hopes Meralco catches up in PBA arms race

Published Apr 1, 2023 04:52 am
If there’s a difference between the two teams in the Finals, Barangay Ginebra and TNT, and those who didn’t make it, that should be the amount of talent in the team, according to Meralco head coach Norman Black.

*Norman Black hopes Meralco catches up with the talents of the top teams this off-season (PBA Images)

*

For the veteran coach, the two finalists are the best teams in the league right now because of talent depth. “I always try to look at these teams. I try to examine them and I’d say how many of these guys play for the national team? And then you can pretty much figure out which teams are the most talented teams in the league,” said Black, who also mentioned San Miguel Beer and Magnolia among those top teams in the league right now. Although Black was glad with his team's accomplishment of reaching the quarterfinals of the season-ending conference, the Bolts are still far from their goal of winning the championship – a goal that is unlikely to happen if they cannot catch up with the talent of the top teams. “It would be nice,” said Black on the possibility of loading up his roster with new talents. “And that’s not putting my players down. I love my players. They work hard for me. They come to work every day, and they have a good attitude.” “But you saw what happened this year with Ginebra, right? They picked up Gray and Malonzo in the middle of the year. That’s amazing. That can help you win a championship. That’s for sure,” he added. However, the problem for Black is that he doesn’t get much chance to acquire a blue-chip addition through the draft or through trades. More so, some of these top picks often land on the lap of the already talented teams. “Sometimes, it’s a little bit difficult because the strong teams end up with the top picks, and end up getting stronger,” he said. “If you want to be successful in the league, like, we don’t want to come in last place and get the first pick because that wouldn’t be good either. I’m sure we will probably be No. 8, or No. 9, or No. 10 this year,” said Black with the Bolts having one first round pick in the September rookie draft. “You are not going to get the most talented guy coming out of the Draft because of that. Most of the time, those picks go to the bottom teams.”

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