2015-2016 Season Summary: Meralco Bolts
Today, we will tackle one of the most interesting team this season, Meralco Bolts.
Meralco has a very successful season. For a young squad to reach the semifinals and the finals of the Commissioner's Cup and Governors Cup, respectively, when nobody of their right and unbiased mind expected it means they over-overachieved. They failed to win a single game against Ginebra in the first two conferences but managed to forced Ginebra to the 6th game this conference.
That 20 in the Assist department is a combination of defense and offense. Meaning, they are above-average passing team and they managed to limit the flow of the opposing squad. You can see in their stats they are well-rounded team. But there is a big hole though, their outside shooting. The team should be encouraged though with their ability to win the 4th quarter of games even though a lot of their players don't have enough experience yet.
CORE PLAYERS' STATISTICS
CHRIS NEWSOME: 12.1 Pts | 4.7 Rebs | 3.9 Asts | 1.0 Stl | 48.1% FG
JIMMY ALAPAG: 7.5 Pts | 4.0 Asts | 36.7% 3FG
CLIFF HODGE: 11.7 Pts | 7.7 Rebs | 2.0 Asts | 31.1% 3FG
JARED DILLINGER: 10.7 Pts | 3.2 Rebs | 1.5 Asts | 33.2% 3FG
BASER AMER: 5.5 Pts | 1.7 Rebs | 1.6 Asts | 37.6% FG
Kudos to coach Norman Black for putting Chris to the fire right away and man, he was forged into a quality player this season! Everybody thought that it will take at least a season before we see what Newsome can really do but he was already one of the best guard this season.
Cliff Hodge put up his career high in every statistics, except FG%, this season. I saw his inexperienced and cleverness in the Governors' Cup Finals but with more maturity and polishing, Cliff can be more impactful. Jared Dillinger embraced his role as the 6th man and his efficiency from the outside is improving.
