After Meralco’s 81-99 loss to the TNT Katropa last January 21, fourth-year Bolts head coach Norman Black elected not to speak to the members of the press. He was visibly disappointed with the lack of energy from the Orangemen during the rout.
“I mentioned earlier about the lack of effort against TNT and we seemed to have a low energy level against TNT,” shared Black.
Wednesday evening, the heart and soul of the Bolts returned to Meralco’s lineup, as energy guy Cliff Hodge made his comeback.
The fifth-year pro out of Hawaii Pacific missed the first four games of the Bolts, recovering from a surgery that cleaned up the bone spurs in his ankle.
Despite going 4-for-4 from the field for eight points in his season debut, the 6-foot-4 forward admitted that he still has a lot of work to do to reach his peak.
“I’m really am out shape. I haven’t played basketball in about three months and I’ve only practiced in like two days. I just need to get back in shape,” disclosed Hodge after Meralco’s 105-76 thumping of the Kia Picanto.
“Actually, my ankle still hurt so I’m just playing through that until it gets better.”
With a 1-3 slate, Black was elated that the Bolts’ force is slowly becoming complete. Moreover, he sees Hodge’s return as something that will jolt his team.
“Nobody’s happier than me to see him back.
“You know we’ve been struggling without him and Ranidel de Ocampo, and this is the conference where we really need them,” expressed the 60-year-old tactician. “It’s the All-Filipino and they’re probably our two best big men. Without them, we’ve been struggling a little bit – not just a little bit, but a lot.”
Even if he will be limited to just 20-25 minutes per game until he fully regains his conditioning, Hodge vows to go all out whenever he is plugged in.
“I know that we needed some wins so I said if I can go up and down, I’ll do it.
“Right now, I’m supposed to be out for 2-3 more weeks but I just go along as it goes,” added Hodge, who grabbed six rebounds as well in 18 minutes of action. “I’m not 100 percent but I mean, I can go out there on defense. I just decided to come back and try and do whatever I can for my team.”
