Bolts roll dice with Romero, banking on familiarity
Meralco believes it has an advantage entering the PBA Commissioner’s Cup, mainly because it could be the only team already familiar with its import.
Of course, that import happens to be Ismael Romero, who is expected to be a lightning rod for scrutiny in the tournament.
“We’re really familiar with Ismael already,” a beaming Chris Newsome told the Inquirer recently.
“In the EASL, we got the experience [of playing] with him. We know what type of player he is, and we know what he brings to the table. He’s going to be ready to come back and play some games. I think that’s going to be good for us because we’re already familiar [with him],” Newsome added.
Familiarity is often make-or-break when it comes to import-laden conferences. And while teams scrambled to fill their roster slots—San Miguel Beer confirmed its reinforcement just a few days back—Meralco has played with Romero for almost half a year already.
Rebounding monster
Romero played all six of the Bolts’ EASL games, the most out of the other imports tapped by the squad, such as Justin Brownlee and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson.
Against East Asian opposition, Romero spearheaded Meralco with averages of 20.5 points, 15.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.38 steals per game.
The Puerto Rican bruiser also set an EASL record for most rebounds in a single game with 28 boards against the Macau Black Bears in November last year.
However, Romero was involved in a controversy in a Dubai tournament, where he lost his cool and attacked a fallen Nick Demusis, kicking the former Rain or Shine player twice.
And teams are expected to get physical with Romero to test his ability to rein in his temper.
But Meralco seems willing to roll the dice, hoping that the edge in chemistry and familiarity, especially early in the tournament, will put the Bolts in a better position to contend for the title.
“We have that experience with our import as compared to some other teams, which … have to break in their import. They have to get them adapted to Philippine basketball,” Newsome said.
“I think that’s the one advantage that we can take going into the season.”
The Bolts open their Commissioner’s Cup against Converge on March 18 at Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo.
