With Meralco set to return to the 2019 FIBA Asia Champions Cup for the second straight year, the Bolts have tapped the services of Renaldo Balkman as one of their reinforcements.
The Puerto Rican forward will share import duties with Allen Durham, who will beef up the Orangemen in the 2019 PBA Governors’ Cup – his fourth straight tour of duty with Meralco.
“One is AD, and we signed up Renaldo Balkman,” said coach Norman Black in an interview Monday evening.
Balkman – who will play for Puerto Rico in the 2019 FIBA World Cup – will immediately join the team in Bangkok after the global meet.
This gig marks yet another stint for Balkman for a Philippine-based ball club since he returned to the country in 2018 and played for San Miguel Alab Pilipinas in the ASEAN Basketball League.
The former San Miguel Beermen import last played for a Filipino club team this past July. Then, he helped Mighty Sports bag the gold medal in the William Jones Cup in Taiwan.
Balkman impressed in that tilt with norms of 19.0 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.9 blocks, and 1.1 steals across seven games. He was eventually named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
The 6-foot-9 big man will boost a Meralco team looking to better their finish in the annual meet among top Asian clubs. The Bolts previously placed fourth last year, when they had Durham and Diamond Stone as imports.
But it won’t be easy, as they will slug it out against the likes of Alvark Tokyo of Japan, Korean team Ulsan Mobis, China’s Guangdong Southern Tigers, and Hi-Tech City Bangkok of Thailand.
The tilt’s entire picture is still incomplete. It will be held from September 24-29 in Bangkok.
