The hulking Liam McMorrow could not be any happier over his Philippine return even it if not meant playing for the Philippine Basketball Association anew due to the height limit imposed by the league.
The 7-foot-2 Canadian cager said he is just grateful for the comeback this time to reinforce the Meralco Bolts in the upcoming 2018 FIBA Asia Champions Cup set in Nonthaburi, Thailand from September 27 to October 2.
“I love it man,” said McMorrow, who last played in the PBA for Barako Bull (now Phoenix) back in 2015. “It’s cool cause I got to see my new team play against my old team. It’s nice to see a lot of familiar faces.
“I’m just thankful to be back in Manila that has people who really love basketball. To be surrounded by that is great. Happy to be back here.”
The Tennessee Tech-product was tapped by the Bolts to help them in their bid to fly the flag high in the prestigious eight-team tournament, where they were bracketed in Group B alongside reigning champion Al Riyadi of Lebanon, Alvarck Tokyo of Japan, and Mono Vampire of host nation Thailand.
McMorrow just arrived in the country on Tuesday night but admitted to already feeling at home with his new team Meralco, who he believes might be in for massive upsets against their Asian ballclub counterparts.
“I like it. The guys are all really nice. It will be a feel good situation,” the now 31-year-old cager added. “All the teams, they’re all top teams where they come from so it will be really a challenging tournament but the team should be ready.
“It should be fun.”
McMorrow – who also had stints in Taiwan, Argentina, NBA Summer League, and China before his Philippine comeback – does wish that the height limit would be re-considered in hope for a real comeback in the PBA.
“I wish I could come back and play.
“I always try to keep track of the unlimited height rule. Hopefully, they change it. I like to comeback here and play more. We’ll see,” he chuckled.
For the meantime, he will just focus on the business at hand, which is towing Meralco to contention in the Champions Cup with two-time Best Import Allen Durham.
“I know him as a player but I haven’t seen him play too much and he seems like a nice guy. It would be interesting the strategy the coach will be using because Allen’s really good in the low post.”
Regardless of the result, though, McMorrow already has other plans in mind, which include an NBA attempt and even the possibility of Philippine national team consideration as a naturalized player.
“I’m always open to that. I don’t know what’s the situation right now.. But I would be open to it because I love the Philippines. I would be definitely open to it,” he beamed.
“It’s just a great team to play for because the country loves basketball so much so I can’t think of another team like even Canada’s national team. It would be more fun playing for the Philippines than Canada because of the atmosphere that the fans bring so it’s like it would be awesome.”
McMorrow will buckle down to work with the Bolts before the team flies to Thailand on September 25.
