It's as if Meralco hasn't missed Allen Durham's services in the PBA Governors Cup. At least for the Bolts' first two games in the season-ending tournament, import Tony Bishop has impressed and mainly responsible for the team's 2-0 start prior to the break brought about by the spike in COVID-19 cases.
Bishop averaged 32.0 points, 15.0 rebounds, and 2.5 assists, while shooting a high 71 percent from beyond the arc and 53 percent from the floor in his first season with the franchise.
Usually, those are Durham-like numbers the former three-time Best Import would deliver for Meralco in the four times he reinforced the team in past Governors Cup, where the Bolts thrice finished runner-up to Barangay Ginebra.
Coach Norman Black definitely has nothing but good words for the 32-year-old American-Panamanian, who was a last-minute replacement for former NBA player Shabazz Muhammad.
"The one good thing about Tony is not just his talent. He's a talented guy, he shoots the basketball well, particularly in the perimeter. He can rebound, he can play defense. He's a good shot blocker," Black told former PBA commissioner Noli Eala in the sports show Power & Play.
More importantly, the Meralco coach cited Bishop's attitude on-and-off the court.
"But the good thing about Tony is his ability to get well with his teammates. His overall attitude has been great. He's very, very coachable, and that's important when it comes to coaching, that you get the player to cooperate and really execute for you every timeout," Black added.
The league announcing the Feb. 11 resumption to the conference was definitely a piece of good news for Black, especially with Bishop and the Bolts - along with the rest of the field - being idle for more than a month as scrimmages had been barred after NCR Plus reverted back to Alert Level 3 early in the new year.
On Sunday though, the Inter-Agency Task Force announced Metro Manila and adjacent provinces will be downgraded to Alert Level 2, thereby paving the way for team practices and eventually, the games to resume in the coming days.
"He's (Bishop) another guy I'm a little bit concerned about because he hasn't practiced for a long time. He's been doing individual workouts, he's in shape, but we just have to go back doing 5-on-5 so we could get some rhythm," said Black.(RG)(PBA)