2021 Meralco Bolts season

2021 Meralco Bolts season
2021 Meralco Bolts season
Head coach	Norman Black
Owner(s)	Manila Electric Company ; (an MVP group subsidiary)
Philippine Cup results
Record	9–2 (81.8%)
Place	2nd
Playoff finish	Semifinalist (lost to Magnolia, 2–4)
Governors' Cup results
Record	7–4 (63.6%)
Place	4th
Playoff finish	Runner-up (lost to Barangay Ginebra, 2–4)
Meralco Bolts seasons
	← 2020 2022–23 →

The 2021 Meralco Bolts season was the 11th season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

Key dates

March 14: The PBA season 46 draft was held at the TV5 Media Center in Mandaluyong.^[1]

Draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Place of birth	College
1	9	Alvin Pasaol	Guard/Forward	Philippines	UE
3	33	John Yasa	Center/Forward	Philippines	PCU
4	43	Luis Brill	Guard	USA	Wheeling

Roster

2021 Meralco Bolts roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	DOB (YYYY–MM–DD)	From
G/F	1	Black, Aaron	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1996–12–03	Ateneo
G	5	Banchero, Chris	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1989–01–24	Seattle Pacific
F	6	Jose, Raymar	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1992–08–06	Far Eastern
F	7	Hodge, Cliff (C)	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1988–02–03	Reedley
G/F	11	Newsome, Chris	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1990–07–25	Ateneo
F	12	Belo, Mac	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1993–02–12	Far Eastern
F	14	Cañete, Michael	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)		1993–08–14	Arellano
G	15	Johnson, Franky	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1993–08–15	Warner Pacific
G	17	Caram, Anjo	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)	159 lb (72 kg)	1991–01–14	San Beda
G/F	19	Quinto, Bong	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)		1994–12–15	Letran
C	20	Almazan, Raymond	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	194 lb (88 kg)	1989–08–02	Letran
F/C	21	Hugnatan, Reynel	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1978–11–03	Manila
G/F	22	Maliksi, Allein	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1987–09–18	UST
G/F	23	Pasaol, Alvin	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1995–05–06	UE
F/C	50	Baclao, Nonoy	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1987–06–15	Ateneo
F	81	Jamito, Jammer	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1990–09–01	St. Clare

Head coach

Norman Black

Assistant coach(es)

Team manager

Paolo Trillo

Legend

(C) Team captain
(CI) Commissioner's Cup Import
(GI) Governors' Cup Import
(EI) EASL Import
(DP) Unsigned draft pick
(FA) Free agent
(IN) Inactive
(S) Suspended
(R) Rookie

Injured

Roster

Philippine Cup

Eliminations

Standings

Pos	Team v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	TNT Tropang Giga	10	1	.909	—	Twice-to-beat in the quarterfinals
2	Meralco Bolts	9	2	.818	1	Twice-to-beat in the quarterfinals
3	Magnolia Pambansang Manok Hotshots	8	3	.727	2	Best-of-three quarterfinals
4	San Miguel Beermen	7	4	.636	3
5	NorthPort Batang Pier	6	5	.545^[a]	4
6	Rain or Shine Elasto Painters	6	5	.545^[a]	4
7	NLEX Road Warriors	5	6	.455	5	Twice-to-win in the quarterfinals
8	Barangay Ginebra San Miguel	4	7	.364^[b]	6	Twice-to-win in the quarterfinals
9	Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters	4	7	.364^[b]	6
10	Terrafirma Dyip	4	7	.364^[b]	6
11	Alaska Aces	3	8	.273	7
12	Blackwater Bossing	0	11	.000	10

Source: PBA.ph
Rules for classification: 1) winning percentage; 2) if two teams are tied, head-to-head record; if three or more teams are tied, head-to-head goal average (quotient), if tied for 8th, one-game playoff; 3) overall quotient 4) coin toss^[2]
Notes:

^ ^a ^b Head-to-head record: NorthPort 1–0 Rain or Shine
^ ^a ^b ^c Head-to-head quotient: Phoenix 1.03, Barangay Ginebra 1.01, Terrafirma 0.96; eighth seed playoff: Barangay Ginebra 95–85 Phoenix

Game log

2021 PBA Philippine Cup game log
Total: 9–2

July: 4–1

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
1	July 16	NorthPort	W 85–63	Mac Belo (27)	Mac Belo (9)	Almazan, Quinto (5)	Ynares Sports Arena	1–0
2	July 18	San Miguel	W 93–87	Chris Newsome (17)	Bong Quinto (7)	Newsome, Quinto (6)	Ynares Sports Arena	2–0
3	July 24	Rain or Shine	L 72–85	Chris Newsome (13)	Cliff Hodge (12)	Chris Newsome (6)	Ynares Sports Arena	2–1
4	July 28	Phoenix Super LPG	W 91–80	Allein Maliksi (24)	Belo, Hodge, Maliksi (7)	Chris Newsome (7)	Ynares Sports Arena	3–1
5	July 31	Alaska	W 89–80	John Pinto (16)	Chris Newsome (11)	Chris Newsome (6)	Ynares Sports Arena	4–1

September: 5–1

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
6	September 1	Magnolia	W 95–94	Mac Belo (22)	Cliff Hodge (11)	Chris Newsome (4)	DHVSU Gym	5–1
7	September 3	TNT	L 76–91	John Pinto (16)	Reynel Hugnatan (11)	Bong Quinto (5)	DHVSU Gym	5–2
8	September 1	Terrafirma	W 95–83	Bong Quinto (17)	Almazan, Pasaol, Quinto (8)	John Pinto (7)	DHVSU Gym	6–2
9	September 18	Blackwater	W 104–97	Allein Maliksi (21)	Raymond Almazan (17)	Bong Quinto (6)	DHVSU Gym	7–2
10	September 22	NLEX	W 104–101	Allein Maliksi (22)	Raymond Almazan (11)	Bong Quinto (8)	DHVSU Gym	8–2
11	September 23	Barangay Ginebra	W 79–66	Belo, Pasaol (15)	Raymond Almazan (10)	Bong Quinto (8)	DHVSU Gym	9–2

Playoffs

Bracket


Quarterfinals				Semifinals (best-of-7)			Finals (best-of-7)

(#1 twice-to-beat)

1	TNT		84

8	Barangay Ginebra		71
				1	TNT	4
(best-of-3)
				4	San Miguel	3
4	San Miguel		2

5	NorthPort		0
							1	TNT	4
(#2 twice-to-beat)
							3	Magnolia	1
2	Meralco	80	97

7	NLEX	81	86
				2	Meralco	2
(best-of-3)
				3	Magnolia	4
3	Magnolia		2

6	Rain or Shine		0

Game log

2021 PBA Philippine Cup playoffs game log
Total: 3–5

Quarterfinals: 1–1

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Series
1	September 29	NLEX	L 80–81	Allein Maliksi (16)	Cliff Hodge (11)	Newsome, Quinto (4)	DHVSU Gym	0–1
2	October 1	NLEX	W 97–86	Chris Newsome (23)	Hodge, Newsome (9)	Caram, Newsome (6)	DHVSU Gym	1–1

Semifinals: 2–4

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Series
1	October 3	Magnolia	L 79–88	Bong Quinto (14)	Cliff Hodge (8)	Bong Quinto (10)	DHVSU Gym	0–1
2	October 6	Magnolia	L 78–92	Chris Newsome (18)	Belo, Hugnatan (7)	Chris Newsome (7)	DHVSU Gym	0–2
3	October 8	Magnolia	W 91–86	Chris Newsome (17)	Cliff Hodge (12)	Newsome, Quinto (4)	DHVSU Gym	1–2
4	October 10	Magnolia	L 69–81	Reynel Hugnatan (21)	Reynel Hugnatan (9)	Chris Newsome (8)	DHVSU Gym	1–3
5	October 13	Magnolia	W 102–98	Allein Maliksi (29)	Raymond Almazan (10)	Chris Newsome (6)	DHVSU Gym	2–3
6	October 15	Magnolia	L 85–93	Raymond Almazan (16)	Raymond Almazan (12)	Hodge, Newsome (6)	DHVSU Gym	2–4

Governors' Cup

Eliminations

Standings

Pos	Team v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Magnolia Pambansang Manok Hotshots	9	2	.818	—	Twice-to-beat in quarterfinals
2	NLEX Road Warriors	8	3	.727	1
3	TNT Tropang Giga	7	4	.636^[a]	2
4	Meralco Bolts	7	4	.636^[a]	2
5	San Miguel Beermen	7	4	.636^[a]	2	Twice-to-win in quarterfinals
6	Barangay Ginebra San Miguel	6	5	.545^[b]	3
7	Alaska Aces	6	5	.545^[b]	3
8	Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters	5	6	.455^[c]	4
9	NorthPort Batang Pier	5	6	.455^[c]	4
10	Rain or Shine Elasto Painters	3	8	.273	6
11	Terrafirma Dyip	2	9	.182	7
12	Blackwater Bossing	1	10	.091	8

Source: PBA.ph
Rules for classification: 1) winning percentage; 2) if two teams are tied, head-to-head record; if three or more teams are tied, head-to-head goal average (quotient), if tied for 8th, one-game playoff; 3) overall quotient 4) coin toss^[3]
Notes:

^ ^a ^b ^c Head-to-head quotient: TNT 1.07, Meralco 0.99, San Miguel 0.95
^ ^a ^b Head-to-head record: Barangay Ginebra 1–0 Alaska
^ ^a ^b Eighth seed playoff: Phoenix 101–98 NorthPort

Game log

2021 PBA Governors' Cup game log
Total: 7–4

December: 2–0

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
1	December 16	Blackwater	W 98–77	Tony Bishop (28)	Tony Bishop (13)	John Pinto (7)	Smart Araneta Coliseum	1–0
2	December 22	TNT	W 83–80	Tony Bishop (36)	Tony Bishop (17)	Newsome, Pinto (4)	Smart Araneta Coliseum	2–0

February: 4–2

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
3	February 11, 2022	NLEX	W 110–100	Tony Bishop (32)	Tony Bishop (13)	Tony Bishop (8)	Smart Araneta Coliseum	3–0
4	February 13, 2022	Barangay Ginebra	W 101–95	Tony Bishop (30)	Tony Bishop (13)	Bishop, Newsome (7)	Smart Araneta Coliseum	4–0
5	February 17, 2022	NorthPort	L 98–109	Tony Bishop (34)	Tony Bishop (16)	Chris Newsome (8)	Smart Araneta Coliseum	4–1
6	February 20, 2022	Rain or Shine	W 93–88	Tony Bishop (26)	Tony Bishop (14)	Chris Banchero (5)	Smart Araneta Coliseum 3,347	5–1
7	February 24, 2022	Terrafirma	W 107–95	Tony Bishop (26)	Tony Bishop (11)	Allein Maliksi (6)	Ynares Center	6–1
8	February 26, 2022	Alaska	L 93–94	Allein Maliksi (32)	Tony Bishop (13)	Tony Bishop (5)	Ynares Center	6–2

March: 1–2

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
9	March 2, 2022	Magnolia	L 85–88	Tony Bishop (19)	Tony Bishop (14)	Chris Newsome (5)	Smart Araneta Coliseum	6–3
10	March 5, 2022	San Miguel	L 110–115	Tony Bishop (29)	Tony Bishop (14)	Chris Newsome (7)	Smart Araneta Coliseum	6–4
11	March 11, 2022	Phoenix Super LPG	W 109–90	Tony Bishop (35)	Tony Bishop (13)	Tony Bishop (5)	Smart Araneta Coliseum	7–4

Playoffs

Bracket


Quarterfinals				Semifinals (best-of-5)			Finals (best-of-7)

(#1 twice-to-beat)

1	Magnolia		127

8	Phoenix Super LPG		88
				1	Magnolia	2
(#4 twice-to-beat)
				4	Meralco	3
4	Meralco		100

5	San Miguel		85
							4	Meralco	2
(#2 twice-to-beat)
							6	Barangay Ginebra	4
2	NLEX	79	96

7	Alaska	93	80
				2	NLEX	1
(#3 twice-to-beat)
				6	Barangay Ginebra	3
3	TNT	92	95

6	Barangay Ginebra	104	115

Game log

2021 PBA Governors' game log
Total: 6–6

Quarterfinals: 1–0

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Series
1	March 18, 2022	San Miguel	W 100–85	Tony Bishop (32)	Tony Bishop (16)	Bong Quinto (5)	Smart Araneta Coliseum	1–0

Semifinals: 3–2

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Series
1	March 23, 2022	Magnolia	L 80–94	Chris Banchero (16)	Tony Bishop (12)	Bong Quinto (4)	SM Mall of Asia Arena	0–1
2	March 25, 2022	Magnolia	W 81–75	Tony Bishop (22)	Tony Bishop (14)	Aaron Black (4)	SM Mall of Asia Arena	1–1
3	March 27, 2022	Magnolia	W 101–95	Tony Bishop (27)	Tony Bishop (10)	Banchero, Newsome (5)	SM Mall of Asia Arena 13,272	2–1
4	March 30, 2022	Magnolia	L 73–94	Tony Bishop (22)	Tony Bishop (16)	Chris Newsome (5)	Smart Araneta Coliseum 10,353	2–2
5	April 1, 2022	Magnolia	W 94–81	Allein Maliksi (24)	Bishop, Newsome (8)	Chris Newsome (12)	Smart Araneta Coliseum	3–2

Finals: 2–4

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Series
1	April 6, 2022	Barangay Ginebra	W 104–91	Allein Maliksi (22)	Tony Bishop (12)	Chris Newsome (7)	Smart Araneta Coliseum 12,457	1–0
2	April 8, 2022	Barangay Ginebra	L 93–99	Tony Bishop (31)	Tony Bishop (13)	Aaron Black (6)	SM Mall of Asia Arena 12,248	1–1
3	April 10, 2022	Barangay Ginebra	W 83–74	Tony Bishop (30)	Tony Bishop (16)	Chris Newsome (6)	SM Mall of Asia Arena 16,104	2–1
4	April 13, 2022	Barangay Ginebra	L 84–95	Tony Bishop (25)	Almazan, Black (9)	Chris Newsome (5)	Smart Araneta Coliseum 17,298	2–2
5	April 17, 2022	Barangay Ginebra	L 110–115	Tony Bishop (30)	Tony Bishop (15)	Black, Newsome (5)	Smart Araneta Coliseum 18,251	2–3
6	April 22, 2022	Barangay Ginebra	L 92–103	Tony Bishop (21)	Tony Bishop (16)	Chris Newsome (6)	SM Mall of Asia Arena 20,224	2–4

Transactions

Trades

Pre-season

February
February 4, 2021^[4]	To Meralco Mac Belo	To Blackwater Baser Amer Bryan Faundo

Mid-season

December
December 4, 2021^[5]	To Meralco Franky Johnson	To Rain or Shine Trevis Jackson

Recruited imports

Tournament	Name	Debuted	Last game	Record
Governors' Cup	Tony Bishop	December 16, 2021 (vs. Blackwater)	April 22, 2022 (vs. Barangay Ginebra)	13–10

References

^ Application forms for Season 46 Draft available Monday, PBA.ph, December 4, 2020
^ "ALL ABOUT THE PBA QUOTIENT". December 10, 2012. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
^ "ALL ABOUT THE PBA QUOTIENT". December 10, 2012. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
^ Ramos, Gerry (February 4, 2021). "Belo-Amer trade approved by PBA after Faundo added to package". Sports Interactive Network. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
^ "Jackson for Johnson as RoS, Meralco seal trade deal". PBA.ph. December 4, 2021. Retrieved December 4, 2021.

[table_hth_NP0.38069320208425-2] Head-to-head record: NorthPort 1–0 Rain or Shine

[table_hth_BGSM0.38069320208425-3] Head-to-head quotient: Phoenix 1.03, Barangay Ginebra 1.01, Terrafirma 0.96; eighth seed playoff: Barangay Ginebra 95–85 Phoenix

[table_hth_MER0.61106673330584-5] Head-to-head quotient: TNT 1.07, Meralco 0.99, San Miguel 0.95

[table_hth_ALA0.61106673330584-6] Head-to-head record: Barangay Ginebra 1–0 Alaska

[table_hth_NP0.61106673330584-7] Eighth seed playoff: Phoenix 101–98 NorthPort

[1] Application forms for Season 46 Draft available Monday, PBA.ph, December 4, 2020

[4] "ALL ABOUT THE PBA QUOTIENT". December 10, 2012. Retrieved July 30, 2021.

[8] "ALL ABOUT THE PBA QUOTIENT". December 10, 2012. Retrieved November 25, 2018.

[9] Ramos, Gerry (February 4, 2021). "Belo-Amer trade approved by PBA after Faundo added to package". Sports Interactive Network. Retrieved February 4, 2021.

[10] "Jackson for Johnson as RoS, Meralco seal trade deal". PBA.ph. December 4, 2021. Retrieved December 4, 2021.

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