Meralco active consultant Nenad Vucinic played a big role in the Bolts’ conquest of San Miguel in the PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup that gave the squad their maiden title.
Meralco active consultant Nenad Vucinic stood proud as he watched the Bolts hoist their first-ever PBA title at centercourt at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday, June 16.
Players asked him to join them in receiving Meralco's highly coveted reward after 14 long years of struggles and failures – one they got after slaying mighty San Miguel.
Vucinic politely refused and let them have their moment of redemption and glory. He preferred to stay on the outer fringes of the limelight.
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The Meralco Bolts celebrate their first-ever PBA championship. | (Art by Mitzi Solano; Photo by RM Chua)
That is what Vucinic has done in the past year for the Bolts as consultant. His contributions have been invaluable for chief tactician Luigi Trillo and the rest of the staff, though.
In fact, the Serbian coach drew up the last play that gave the franchise its maiden diadem since joining the league in 2010.
Nenad Vucinic discusses with Meralco head coach Luigi Trillo during Game 4 of the Bolts' best-of-seven battle for the PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup crown with San Miguel last June 12. | (Art by Mitzi Solano; Photo by Sherwin Vardeleon)
With just 1.3 ticks left, Meralco executed the play to perfection, with Chris Newsome nailing the fall-away jumper baseline off an inbound pass from Chris Banchero as the Bolts dethroned the Beermen, 80-78, in Game 6 to rule the Season 48 Philippine Cup.
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“Personally, I wanted to get Chris Newsome the last shot. I know he has been carrying us throughout the series, not only him, of course, but he stepped up to the big pressure on him. He didn’t have a game up to his standards. Today, he got really defended well by some of the guards of San Miguel, but the last shot had to go to him,” Vucinic said during the post-game presser.
“That’s his bread and butter, fadeaway jumper from the baseline and it went in. I’m so happy for him and I’m so happy for all the other players.”
But the partnership, which started in 2022 with then Meralco mentor Norman Black, was actually cut short.
In August of that year, Vucinic left his post as Bolts consultant and Gilas Pilipinas deputy.
This was spurred by his friend Tab Baldwin's puzzling move to step down as Gilas coach after a fruitful year with the youthful national team led by the likes of Kai Sotto. Chot Reyes returned to replace Baldwin at the helm at the onset of 2022.
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“At the time, there was some politics around Gilas. And I have to be honest, Tab Baldwin was the head of program at the time. I came because of him. He’s my friend and I tried to help him. And when he lost the job, I really wanted to go home,” said Vucinic, who called the shots for Gilas in the third window of the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers that year.
Stopping him from his plan was Baldwin who convinced him to stay.
“Usually we don’t do that. I’ve spoken with coach Tab; he asked me to stay and help coach Chot in Gilas. And I stayed,” said Vucinic.
But months later, Vucinic ultimately decided to leave the country.
Vucinic admitted he was yearning to come back after that, feeling there was some unfinished business with Meralco.
That was why he was elated to get the call back from the Bolts to be an active consultant to newly appointed head coach Luigi Trillo in May last year.
“Thank God I’ve got the call to come back,” said Vucinic. “Even with my time as consultant with coach Norman, I really enjoyed. We worked really hard to do the best we could.”
“Unfortunately, coach Norman wasn’t renewed. Coach Luigi stepped in and for 12 months we’ve done a lot of work.”
And their work led to Meralco lifting its maiden trophy in the league.
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Nenad Vucinic on the sidelines during Game 3 of the PBA Finals. (Art by Mitzi Solano; Photo RM Chua)
From the moment he set foot in the country, Vucinic shared he already felt at home.
“From the first day I arrived and being part of Gilas, SBP (Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas). I feel very comfortable here,” said Vucinic, who had stops in New Zealand, Serbia, Italy, China, Turkey, Lebanon and Japan.
“I feel comfortable because the people are good. They have values. They are trying to do the best they can. Players with Gilas and Meralco, they’re soldiers. They listen to the coaches. They respect the coaches. I can tell you from my experience; I’ve been all around the world. It’s difficult to have that these days.”
With this latest accolade in his beefed-up international resume, Philippines could just be his home for an extended period of time.