Meralco Bolts

This article is about the PBA team. For the original Meralco basketball team, see Meralco Reddy Kilowatts.

Meralco Bolts
2016–17 Meralco Bolts season
Founded	2010
History	Meralco Bolts (2010–present)
Team colors	Orange, White, Blue
Company	Manila Electric Company
Board governor	Al Panlilio Betty Siy-Yap (alternate) Ryan Gregorio (alternate)
Team manager	Paolo Trillo
Head coach	Norman Black
Ownership	Manuel V. Pangilinan

Active affiliates of Meralco Bolts
Basketball	Football	Volleyball

The Meralco Bolts are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association. The team began in 2010 after the Manila Electric Company (MERALCO) acquired the PBA franchise of the Sta. Lucia Realtors. The team is one of three PBA teams presently under the control of businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan - the other teams being the TNT KaTropa and the NLEX Road Warriors.

History

On June 2010, there were reports that Meralco expressed interest in joining the PBA and intended to buy either Sta. Lucia's or Barako Bull's franchise after both teams unloaded most of their major players. After Barako Bull informed the board that they intended to stay with the league for the 2010-11 season, Sta. Lucia then filed a "leave of absence." On August 10, the PBA board finally approved the sale of the Sta. Lucia franchise to Meralco. The team would be named the Meralco Bolts.

2010–2011 PBA season

The Bolts debuted during the 2010-11 season with a lineup that included Mark Cardona, Asi Taulava, Nelbert Omolon, Marlou Aquino, Beau Belga, Dennis Daa, Chris Ross, Ogie Menor, Pong Escobal and Chris Pacana. Shawn Weinstein, Ford Arao, Khasim Mirza and Bam-bam Gamalinda were the first players to be drafted by the franchise. They started the Philippine Cup with a win against the crowd favorites Barangay Ginebra Kings. In the middle of the conference, they traded some of their players in exchange for Hans Thiele, Mark Isip and Reed Juntilla respectively. They compiled a 7-7 record which was enough to take them to the quarterfinals. However, they lost to the B-Meg Derby Ace Llamados 2-0. Before the Commissioner's Cup, they made a huge trade by acquiring Solomon Mercado along with Paolo Bugia and Erick Rodriguez. They also signed 3-point shooter Renren Ritualo. Despite a revamped roster and imports Anthony Dandridge and Chamberlain Oguchi, they did not past the eliminations after having a 3-6 record. The same happened during the Governors Cup when they had a 3-5 record.

2011–2012 PBA season

The Bolts rebuilt its line-up during the offseason, releasing Renren Ritualo, Hans Thiele, Reed Juntilla and Paolo Bugia, as well as acquiring through trades Mark Yee, Mark Macapagal, Chico Lanete, Chris Timberlake and signing free agents Mark Borboran and Bryan Faundo. During the 2011 PBA Draft, Meralco selected Gilas reserve Jason Ballesteros, as well as Gilbert Bulawan to augment their frontline. In the 2011-12 PBA Philippine Cup, they finished at 6th place at 8-6 win-loss record but swept by the Petron Blaze Boosters. In the 2012 PBA Commissioner's Cup, they finished at another sixth place at 4-5 on that 102-98 upset win over Powerade Tigers but in another miss to the semifinals for the Bolts. In the 2012 PBA Governors Cup, they finished three straight sixth places in their franchise. In the knockout game for the last semis berth, they defeated the Powerade Tigers, 94-86 to advance to their first semifinals appearance in their franchise history.

2012–2013 PBA season

Ramon Segismundo announced the team's uniform for the 2012-13 season will have similar design features with the 1971 uniforms worn by the Meralco Reddy Kilowatts.

2013–14 season

The Bolts made some offseason moves prior to the start of the season. They acquired "El Granada" Gary David from GlobalPort in exchange for Chris Ross, Chris Timberlake and Meralco's 2016 and 2017 second round picks. They have also traded the rights of Asi Taulava to Air21 in exchange for Mike Cortez, shipped Mark Cardona to Air21 via a three-team trade which in the process, acquired Rabeh Al-Hussaini. They also acquired Kerby Raymundo from Ginebra for Jay-R Reyes. Raymundo has yet to play for the Bolts since he was traded because of a nagging knee injury, and is contemplating retirement.

Midway thru the eliminations, they signed up Danny Ildefonso for the rest of the conference, who was unceremoniously let go by Petron. After realizing that Danny I still has what it takes to play, and can still help the team in terms of his leadership and positive influence, the Bolts signed him for the rest of the season.

During the PBA Philippine Cup conference, they were off to a good start, and were able to beat top-seed teams like Ginebra. However, they suffered losing streak and ended up in a four way tie with Alaska, GlobalPort and Barako Bull. Since Barako Bull and GlobalPort have higher quotients, Meralco was forced to play a sudden death game with Alaska Aces to determine the eighth and final playoff spot. The Aces defeated them and thus they were eliminated from playoff contention.

2014-15 season

In 2014-15 PBA Philippine Cup conference, they performed well, even eliminating the defending champion Purefoods Star Hotshots, but were later eliminated by Alaska Aces

In 2015 Commissioner's Cup, they are in an undefeated streak due to their good performance. The team also had its import Josh Davis who helped to maintain their great streak.

In the Governor's Cup, the team tapped Seiya Ando as their import, alongside Andre Emmett. Due to this, Ando became the first Japanese import in the league.

2015-16 season

The 2015-16 PBA Philippine Cup was not as good as they had before. The suffered the worst with a 1-10 record. However, the team drafted Chris Newsome and Baser Amer.

The team improved very well in the Commissioner's Cup, where they had a beautiful streak led by ex-Maccabi Tel Aviv BC player Arinze Onuaku. Another flaw to the team's campaign in the Commissioner's Cup is the suspension of Gary David in a game during an elimination round, due to insubordination. David later removed in the line-up and moved to the unrestricted agent list.

The team also went to the Finals for the first time in their franchise history on the Governors' Cup. The Bolts were able to upset the top-seed TNT by winning their best-of-five semifinal series in four games.They faced the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in the Finals,but Ginebra upsets them in a crucial Game 6.

Mascot

Biboy Liwanag during Meralco's semifinal game versus Alaska on April 25, 2016

"Biboy Liwanag" is the main mascot of the Bolts. He was first introduced as the team's mascot during their maiden season in 2010.

Current roster

Main article: Meralco Bolts all-time roster

Meralco Bolts roster

Players	Coaches
Pos. # POB Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From G 1 Black, Aaron 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1996–12–03 Ateneo G 4 Dario, Diego (IN) 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 145 lb (66 kg) 1997–01–06 UP Diliman F/C 5 Durham, Allen (I) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 236 lb (107 kg) 1988–07–09 Grace Christian G 6 Banchero, Chris 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1989–01–24 Seattle Pacific F 7 Hodge, Cliff 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1988–02–03 Hawaii Pacific G 10 Mendoza, Jolo 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 1998–01–31 Ateneo G/F 11 Newsome, Chris (C) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1990–07–25 Ateneo G 17 Caram, Anjo 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) 159 lb (72 kg) 1991–01–14 San Beda F 19 Quinto, Bong 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 1994–12–15 Letran F/C 20 Almazan, Raymond  6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 194 lb (88 kg) 1989–08–02 Letran F 22 Maliksi, Allein  6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1987–09–18 UST F 23 Pasaol, Alvin 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1995–05–06 UE F 24 Jose, Raymar 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1992–08–06 Far Eastern F 27 Rios, Jansen 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1991–10–28 Adamson F/C 29 Torres, Norbert 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1990–01–12 De La Salle F/C 32 Pascual, Kyle 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1990–04–13 San Beda C 33 Bates, Brandon 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 231 lb (105 kg) De La Salle G 71 Cansino, CJ (R) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 1999–10–27 UP Diliman	Head coach Luigi Trillo Assistant coach(es) Gene Afable (1st assistant) Reynel Hugnatan Sandro Soriano Nenad Vučinić (active consultant) Norman Black (consultant) Team manager Paolo Trillo Legend (C) Team captain (I) Import (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (IN) Inactive (S) Suspended (R) Rookie (3x3) Assigned to 3x3 team Injured Roster

Team Depth Chart

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2	Bench 3
C	Sonny Thoss	Marion Magat	Samigue Eman
PF	Vic Manuel	Nonoy Baclao	Bryan Cruz	Eric Menk
SF	Calvin Abueva	Rome Dela Rosa	Tony Dela Cruz
SG	Kevin Racal	Dondon Hontiveros	Chris Banchero
PG	JV Casio	RJ Jazul	Chris Exciminiano

Head coaches

Meralco Bolts head coaches
2010s Name Start End Seasons Overall Record Best finish W L PCT G Ryan Gregorio 2010 2014 4 70 89 .440 159 Semifinals Norman Black 2014 Incumbent 1 15 11 .000 Incumbent

Season-by-season records

Main article: List of Meralco Bolts seasons

Records from the 2014–15 PBA season:

Conf.	Team name	Elimination round				Playoffs
		Finish	W	L	PCT	Stage	Results
PHI	Meralco Bolts	6th/12	6	5	.545	Quarterfinals	1st phase: Meralco 77*, Purefoods Star 65 Alaska* 87, Meralco 69
COM		5th/12	6	5	.545	Quarterfinals Semifinals	Meralco 2, NLEX 0 Rain or Shine 3, Meralco 0
GOV		7th/12	5	6	.333	Quarterfinals	San Miguel** def. Meralco in 2 games
Total elimination round			17	16	.515	3 playoffs appearances
Total playoffs			4	5	.444	1 Finals appearances
Total 2014–15			21	21	1.000	0 championships
Total franchise			91	110	.452	0 championships

*one-game playoffs
**team had the twice-to-beat advantage

Players of note

Other notable players

(A-F)

• Ford Arao
• Marlou Aquino
• Paul Artadi
• Jason Ballesteros
• Beau Belga
• Mark Borboran
• Ronjay Buenafe
• Paolo Bugia
• Gilbert Bulawan
• Mark Canlas
• Mark Cardona
• Mike Cortez
• Dennis Daa
• Gary David
• Pong Escobal
• Gabby Espinas
• Bryan Faundo

(G-L)

• Riego Gamalinda
• Reynel Hugnatan
• Mark Isip
• Reed Juntilla
• Chico Lanete

(M-R)

• Mark Macapagal
• Vic Manuel
• Rogemar Menor
• Solomon Mercado
• Khasim Mirza
• Nelbert Omolon
• Chris Pacana
• Jay-R Reyes
• Ren-Ren Ritualo
• Eric Rodriguez
• Chris Ross

(S-Z)

• Sunday Salvacion
• Asi Taulava
• Hans Thiele
• Chris Timberlake
• Shawn Weinstein
• Mark Yee

Imports

• Seiya Ando (2015)
• Earl Barron (2012)
• Brian Butch (2014)
• Josh Davis (2015)
• Anthony Dandridge (2011)
• Eric Dawson (2013)
• Allen Durham (2016)
• Andre Emmett (2015)
• Jarrid Famous (2012)
• Chamberlain Oguchi (2011, 2011, 2012)
• Arinze Onuaku (2016)
• Tim Pickett (2011)
• Mario West (2012, 2013, 2014)
• Darnell Jackson (2014)
• Terrence Williams (2014)

See also

• Meralco Bolts draft history
• Meralco Reddy Kilowatts
• Loyola Meralco Sparks F.C.
• Meralco Power Spikers

External links

• One Meralco Sports (official website)