BUBBLE BRINGS BLACK BACK TO PLAYGROUND DAYS
ANGELES CITY— Norman Black misses the fan-filled days of the PBA already. But something about playing in an empty gym feels a special kind of familiar.
“[It takes me] back to the playground,” said the Grand Slam coach, his face behind a mask and shield during a media availability session. “It’s just you against the other five on the court.”
Black belongs to the generation of old warriors who honed their skills on the streets, far from the comforts of corporate-funded youth tournaments. And hooping in playgrounds helped sharpen the grit in his game.
“There’s no real big influence except for maybe those few people watching the game—or the guys waiting to get on because they [want to play the] winners. When people start talking, you hear them very clearly,” he said.
Nostalgic
The sense of nostalgia has helped him appreciate bubble games as much as the ones people have been accustomed to.
“I already loved the old atmosphere with the fans, but I love the fact that now, you just gotta go out and play,” he said.
And he is clearly enjoying more now that the Bolts were able to tab their first win in this compressed Philippine Cup.
Meralco rebounded from Sunday’s opening-day loss to Phoenix via a masterful 93-81 victory against Alaska on Wednesday night.
The basketball atmosphere here in the league’s two-site bubble has reaped pleasant reviews, as its stripped-down nature has nudged the spotlight to the direction of the only thing that matters: the game.
Black, who was a force during his fabled runs as an import in the PBA, said such an environment will unveil the real competitors are in this league.
“If you don’t play well, there are no excuses,” Black said. “You just got beat. Simple as that. That just motivates you to go out and give your best.
“In basketball, when you’re a player, [competition is] what it’s all about. You want be known as a consistent player—somebody who brings it every single night,” he added.