Bolts brace for EASL wars

Meralco is expected to make its presence felt when it represents the country in the East Asia Super League (EASL) that will open on 8 October.

The EASL made the announcement, saying that the Bolts will serve as the country’s lone representative in the prestigious tourney that gathers all the best club teams in Asia.

It’s going to be the third straight year for the Bolts to see action in the EASL.

Last season, Meralco nearly made it to the Final Four after posting a 2-1 win-loss record in its next three games, including a 96-109 double-overtime win over the New Taipei Kings last February.

This year, the Bolts will be bunched in Group B with the Taoyuan Pauian Pilots of Chinese Taipei, Ryukyu Golden Kings of Japan and Macau Black Bears of Macau, which challenged Gilas Pilipinas in a friendly match ahead of the 33rd FIBA Asia Cup last week.

Group A will be composed of Hong Kong Eastern of Hong Kong, Seoul SK Knights of South Korea, Taipei Fubon Braves of Chinese Taipei, and Utsunomiya Brex of Japan while Group C will have Alvark Tokyo of Japan, Changwon LG Sakers of South Korea, New Taipei Kings of Chinese Taipei, and Ulaanbaatar of Mongolia.

The EASL will be using a new format in which the top two teams of each group will advance to the Round of 6.

Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) commissioner Willie Marcial said they were supposed to send two teams to the EASL but they scrapped the idea since they are facing a very busy 50th season starting October.

“We have a lot of games so we can’t send two teams,” the PBA chief said.

“It’s going to be hard for us to plot our schedule if two teams are out.”

Joining international events is nothing new for the Bolts.

They also competed in the Basketball Champions League Asia (BCL Asia) and made it as far as the quarterfinal before absorbing a 78-83 loss to Ulaanbaatar.