Despite a game with 34 points, 16 rebounds, and nine assists, Meralco import Allen Durham admits he's not quite there yet for the Bolts in the PBA Governors' Cup.
As far as the Meralco Bolts are concerned, the PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup is still a long way to go.
Despite taking a strong 3-1 record in Group A, the Bolts are facing a different kind of fight as they navigate the health and fitness of some of their players, including key pieces like import Allen Durham, Chris Newsome, Cliff Hodge, Allein Maliksi, and Raymond Almazan.
Still, the foundation is strong for Meralco and a big part of the team’s potential championship success is starting to round into form.
While he’s admittedly not in his best shape yet, Durham submitted the best game of his latest PBA stint so far, going for an incredible 34 points, 16 rebounds, and nine assists in a win against NorthPort.
Durham shot 13/18 from the field and committed just one turnover. More importantly, AD anchored Meralco in a huge 36-17 third quarter that allowed the Bolts to turn the tide in their favor for the win.
“I’m still not there yet,” Durham said.
“But each day that’s come in, I’m getting better. This is a marathon, not a [sprint]. Once I get there, we’re gonna be a pretty good team,” he added.
For his part, head coach Luigi Trillo has full confidence in his prized reinforcement.
But the bigger part for Meralco is getting its whole team back, hopefully in time for another possible title run.
“Ginebra has Brownlee, [TNT] has Jefferson, and we have AD,” Trillo said.
“Moving forward, we know already that AD is okay. The other guys also have to be playing at a high level. Right now sa amin, honestly the next week sana we can have one or two guys in. But we have faith in all the other guys, that’s what a team is about,” he added.