Coach Norman Black was pleased to see the balance as the Meralco Bolts overturned a double-digit deficit and defeated the Blackwater Elite 87-72 Friday with five players scoring 10 or more points.
Andre Emmett, who was averaging 26.6 shots coming into the game, only had 18 attempts and 17 points as the proverbial pie was evenly distributed this time out.
“Something more important to me is we had more balance today offensively,” Black lauded his squad for the unselfishness. “More people were involved today and were stepping up. It’s always better when you have balance, it gives you a bigger chance of winning the ball game.”
Aside from Emmett who topscored for the team, Gary David fired 16 points to almost double his conference average and dished out 5 assists as the defense focused on him all game long.
The gunner believes less is more ideally for the Bolts when Emmett starts to distribute the basketball.
“Nakikita namin yung winning games namin halos lahat umiiskor. Kaya siguro doon kami magcoconcentrate. Tulad ngayon, 19 assists kami and we want to make a good shot,” David shared.
Black, however, added the Bolts (3-3) still need consistency and focus and wishes the crew moves toward the next level.
“It has been very frustrating for me as a coach. The games we lost, our defense has been lacking and our rebounding has been absent. Our ability to play in offense is inconsistent. In the games we won our focus on defense has been in the beginning to the end,” he said.
