Any team that has won back-to-back games to get itself back in contention would be happy by now.
Not coach Nenad Vucinic, the Serbian mentor of the Meralco Bolts in the East Asia Super League.
The Bolts picked up two straight wins capped by their dominant 92-74 victory over the Macau Black Bears at the Cebu Coliseum over the weekend, but despite averting early elimination, Vucinic knows the team is not out of the woods yet.
So when a question was asked if Meralco is peaking at the right time, the well-travelled coach immediately downplayed the idea.
“The right time is in three months — if we are in the finals and if we are still together,” Vucinic wrote in a Viber message.
Meralco has been struggling, not just in the EASL, but also in the PBA, with unavailability of players due to sickness or injuries.
Add to the that the different dynamic of playing in the EASL, where the Bolts are allowed to play four reinforcements — two regular imports in Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Ismael Romero, a naturalized player in Ange Kouame and an Asian import in Sina Vahedi.
In the PBA, the Bolts are currently competing in the Philippine Cup, which means these reinforcements are not taking part either in practice or games. In the league’s season opener, Meralco has just won three of seven games and currently in seventh place.
Vucinic and the rest of his troops are embracing the challenges, but don’t want to get their hopes too high as they believe they’re in an uphill battle, juggling duties playing in the EASL where they go up against crack teams in the Asian region and competing in the PBA.
How quickly can the Bolts adjust playing in different leagues overnight makes it a lot more challenging.
“Winning back-to-back games doesn’t mean much right now because the next (EASL) game is in three weeks and the following one is in two months,” added Vucinic. “We have PBA games without imports. It is very hard to keep any kind of form. We will see how we play in three weeks.”
“I know I sound negative, but that is the situation. Vahedi and Newsome will not be with the team until the next EASL game and they will have no practices with us. They are going to play with their respective national teams.”
Health is another issue the Bolts were dealing with — from Allein Maliksi, to Chris Banchero, to Cliff Hodge and Aaron Black all the way to CJ Cansino — these players are practically banged up.
These guys can rest for the EASL, but not for long as the Bolts have an ongoing PBA campaign.
There’s really no rest for the weary — and limping — team like Meralco.
