TONY Bishop put to rest coach Norman Black’s worries by proving to be the versatile player advertised, leading Meralco to a lopsided 98-77 in over hapless Blackwater yesterday in the PBA Governors Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Bishop debuted with 28 points and 13 rebounds and got plenty of help from his teammates as the Bolts took control of the game right in the second quarter and dominated the rest of the way.
The difference even got stretched to as many as 24 points twice before Meralco went on to finish the drubbing and get the fine tournament start Black wanted while dealing Blackwater its third loss in as many games in the tournament and 22nd straight in all since last year.
“It’s exactly what we hoped for, what we wanted. We wanted to get off to a great start in this conference and try to catch up with the teams which have already played a lot of games,” said Black.
Bishop, a last-minute replacement for original choice Shabazz Muhammad, was a big factor in the win as he went 11-of-20 from the field, including 2-of-3 from deep, on top of two assists and as many blocked shots.
“Tony Bishop did a great job in his first game, scoring, rebounding, blocking shots, showing that he has a lot of versatility in his game,” said Black, adding he really didn’t expect the Panamanian to play that well.
“Tony’s been here just a couple of weeks and this is the first game he’s played (in the PBA) since he’s been here so I also have to find out exactly how he was gonna play tonight because the only thing I’ve seen is in practice,” related Black.
“Yeah, we’re happy. He’s got a lot of versatility in his game and he’s an all-around player. I don’t think he’s… just give-him-the-ball player and get out of the way. He fits in well with what we do. Overall, I thought he was pretty good tonight.”
It was not Bishop alone as Nards Pinto came off the bench to finish with 18 points and seven assists while Chris Newsome chipped in 11 points and Raymond Almazan 10 points and nine boards while anchoring the defense on Blackwater import Jaylen Brown.
“Nards Pinto was great for us tonight. I thought the combination of Nards and Anjo Caram coming off the bench, defensively, was a difference-maker and changed the momentum of the game as soon as they entered the game,” said Black.
Indeed, Pinto was a sight to behold when he scored nine of his points that sparked and fueled Meralco’s 21-7 blitz from the game’s last tie at 18-all and into a 39-25 lead.
The Bossing tried to stage a fightback, but they can only do so much and Pinto and Bishop again led the Bolts to a 75-51 spread before Almazan and even Pasaol joined in to maintain a 95-71 difference.
Rashawn McCarthy’s 19 points and Bond’s 18 points and 15 rebounds led Blackwater, which was left looking forward to its game against San Miguel Beer tomorrow to end its slide.
