There’s no denying that Arinze Onuaku has made himself known as one of the top reinforcements in the PBA — so much so that the 2016 Commissioner’s Cup Best Import has been brought in by the Meralco Bolts for another tour of duty this 2018.
But that wasn’t the case on Friday night, when he and the Bolts took on the Magnolia Hotshots.
Onuaku had all-around numbers of 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting; 11 rebounds, and seven assists, but those stats were greatly shadowed by the way he shot from the charity stripe, as he made just five of the 21 shots he was awarded.
Two of his 16 misses took place during his visit to the line with 51.6 seconds remaining, and that truly proved to be costly as it left the door open for the Hotshots to come back and steal the win away from the Orangemen, 79-81.
Adding insult to injury — and to Onuaku, probably — is the fact that Magnolia used free throws as a weapon to kill the Bolts. Vernon Macklin was the one who dealt the lethal blow, calmly sinking his foul shots with 3.1 seconds left to play.
For Meralco head coach Norman Black, the match could have yielded a much different result had Onuaku made some of his freebies — the former Orlando Magic center only made three of his nine FTs in the fourth quarter.
“He had a lot of opportunities to separate us in the game. If he had made a couple of those foul shots — I think he missed 16 — obviously we could’ve pulled away,” rued Black, whose wards led by seven, 79-72, with 1:48 remaining in the game.
“That was a sour aspect of the game.”
Still, Black keeps his faith in his prized reinforcement, point out that Onuaku still brings a lot to the table for the Bolts, who will head into the All-Star break with a 3-2 card — tied for third with the GlobalPort Batang Pier in the team standings.
“He gives us a lot of other things on the court to help us win games,” expressed Black, as Onuaku is now averaging 20.4 points, 15.8 boards, and 5.8 dimes.
“That’s part of it (bad free throw shooting). You just have to live with it and move on.”
