The Meralco Bolts' first stint in the East Asia Super League was instrumental in the squad's first-ever championship in the PBA. Now they're back to welcome the EASL in their new season.
Macau was a special place for the Meralco Bolts in December 2023.
It was the venue for the Bolts' first-ever win in the East Asia Super League (EASL), beating Japan's Ryukyu Golden Kings via overtime, 97-88.
The Bolts also became the first PBA team to win an EASL game since the TNT Tropang Giga in 2019.
Six months later, the Bolts hoisted the PBA Philippine Cup--their first-ever title in the league.
For EASL CEO Henry Kerins, this wasn't a coincidence.
"The Meralco Bolts participated in the EASL, and they played the toughest teams... you look at these players and how they performed in the EASL, when they came back to the PBA. What did they do? They won their first championship," noted Kerins on Saturday during an interview with Noli Eala on Power & Play.
"I think it's not only drawing parallels to say, if you play against the best of the best, and you fine tune your strategy, how do you take that back to your domestic league? How are you able to sort of accelerate and take advantage fo that? I think the data shows that there's a one to one ratio and why that happened," he added.
Coach Luigi Trillo had to agree.
"It toughened us up," he said to the EASL.
"The significance of winning that first game for any Philippine team in the EASL, to me, is memorable."
Playing against international teams is nothing new to Chris Newsome, who has been a part of the Gilas Pilipinas program for a few years now. But he acknowledges that the exposure is invaluable for his other Meralco teammates.
"Playing against the best players and club teams in Asia brings a new level of confidence to us as a PBA team," he told the EASL. "We don't normally get to experience that."
"For those who don't play on national teams, their level of competition is based here in the Philippines. For you to go out and see what's out there, it forces you to up your game and reach your highest potential."
Even though the Bolts were knocked out of the PBA Season 49 Governors' Cup by the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in the quarterfinals, Meralco won't be pausing any time soon.
And this time, it's the Bolts who will be welcoming expansion squad Macau Black Bears this Wednesday, October 2, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena to kick things off in Group B. The game will start at 8:10 p.m.