LOOKING ahead to their next campaign, the Meralco Bolts are currently dealing with several good news and bad news.
For most part of the 2018 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup, the Bolts missed the services of rugged forward Cliff Hodge.
That obviously became one of the biggest factors why the Bolts had a forgettable campaign to start the season, missing the playoffs entirely after having two straight trips to the finals in the Governors’ Cup of the last two seasons.
Now, the Bolts are glad to know that Hodge, who recovered from an MCL sprain, is back in harness to give them a boost ahead of the Commissioner’s Cup.
“We’ll finally have Cliff Hodge back and that’s good news for us. He’s in good shape,” said Meralco coach Norman Black. “We missed his hustle, energy and intensity and most of all, his presence on the defensive end.”
Not only that, Meralco also welcomes the return of an old reliable in the fray for a much needed reinforcement.
Former Best import awardee Arinze Onuaku is back for another tour of duty for the Bolts as his inside presence and scoring will be counted on.
While these are welcome returns for Meralco, it also needs to deal with a bad news as well.
Veteran forward Ranidel De Ocampo will continue to miss action for the Bolts for the foreseeable future.
After already missing out on the All-Filipino tournament due to a knee injury, De Ocampo suffered a different injury just recently in practice, hurting his Achilles.
He is slated to miss most part of the mid-season tournament for Meralco.
“Ranidel will still not be with us to start the conference,” said Black.
The Commissioner’s Cup starts on Sunday.
The initial offering features a double-header with Blackwater and Columbian Dyip going at it in the first game of the tournament while a fiery tiff between TNT KaTropa and GlobalPort is slated to follow.
