Meralco head coach Norman Black expressed willingness to enter another bubble should it be the only option left for the PBA to stage Season 46.
“Definitely. If we have to do that, then that’s what we’ll do,” the multi-decorated mentor told Radyo5’s Power and Play, Saturday. “It’s our job — to do my job to coach, and the players’ job to play.
“And, of course, the teams have been very, very kind that they’ve taken care of us despite the fact that we’re not playing basketball right now.”
Black is the latest figure to indicate his readiness to go through another bubble. Just last week, his Barangay Ginebra counterpart Tim Cone welcomed the idea of returning to such a setup for the league to get back into action.
Interestingly, both Grand Slam coaches steered their teams to memorable runs in the bubble held in Clark. The Gin Kings, before emerging as the new rulers of the Philippine Cup, had to overcome the Bolts in the best-of-five semifinals.
That semis trip was the MVP Group-owned franchise’s first-ever in the all-Filipino wars. The team was actually just a win away from the titular bout until Scottie Thompson sank the game-winning corner trey in the decider.
Still, the struggles of the bubble are not lost on Black, particularly being away from family. Last year, the league was in Clark for about three months.
“It’s not an easy situation when you’re stuck in your room the entire day, and they’re telling you to basically stay in your room the entire day. The only time you come out of your room is when it’s a team event like practice,” he said.
“It’s a difficult situation mainly because you’re away from your family,” added Black, who celebrated his 63rd birthday in the bubble.
“Fortunately for us, they did allow family members to send food and all the things to the bubble.”
But Black is willing to get into the bubble again for the sake of plunging back into play, saying, “If they say we have to go to another bubble, then that’s what we have to do if we wanna play basketball. So I’m all for it.”
And if ever the PBA does decide to play in a bubble for the second straight season, the 11-time champion coach hopes that all teams will have ample time to prepare before moving into the safe zone.
“What I’m hoping for is that we will be given more time to train before we actually go into the bubble,” Black said.
“That was really our disadvantage last time. Some of my players actually joined me there five days before we actually played our first game, so we’re hoping that we’ll have a little bit more preparation time before we actually have to go into the bubble. In other words, get some practice here in Manila so we can get in shape, because that was a big problem for most of the coaches,” he continued.
“The players really were not in great condition when we started the season. So this time around I’m hoping we can get a little bit more time to get our players in shape.”
