Even if he was away from the PBA for two years, Arinze Onuaku didn’t seem to miss a beat — even if he was suffering from a bum stomach and had yet to practice with the Meralco Bolts.
“First, I’d like to tip my hat off to Arinze,” said Bolts head coach Norman Black after Meralco’s 116-103 win over the Columbian Dyip. “We haven’t played for a long time. We’ve been off for a little while. We were the first to be eliminated from the last conference so we’ve been off for a couple of months.
“In addition to that, like I said, we didn’t know what was gonna happen in the beginning of the game because Arinze hasn’t been with us. He’s been in Cardinal Santos. He basically came from there to here.”
The 30-year-old native of Maryland played above his norms from his last stint. During his first year of duty with Meralco, he posted norms of 20.0 points and 17.6 rebounds during the elimination round. In his debut, the 6-foot-9 big man lifted the Bolts on his shoulders, finishing with 30 points on 14-of-15 shooting, 19 rebounds, six assists, four blocks, and three steals.
As mind-boggling as his stats were, what baffles the former NBA pro is whatever causes him to have a stomach virus every time he comes here to the Philippines.
“I’m not sure what caused it, last time it was because I drank some water. And then one time I got sick again because I ate some salad,” the jolly import quipped.
“I don’t really know but I get sick every time I come here.”
Still, he wasn’t about to let his sickness get in the way of his season debut.
“I didn’t really know how it was gonna go.
“I haven’t seen my team since Friday but they kept me involved in the game and what they wanted to do, guys were able to make some shots,” he shared.
What more can he do if he is a hundred percent?
