Almazan returns to form in Meralco’s big win over Magnolia
Meralco Bolts’ Raymond Almazan.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—Raymond Almazan blocked out the noise and powered Meralco to a dominant win over league juggernaut Magnolia in the PBA Philippine Cup on Sunday.
A week after serving a one-game suspension due to an EDSA bus lane breach where he allegedly tried to bribe a traffic enforcer, Almazan redeemed himself and reminded his worth to the Bolts with a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds to power Meralco over the Hotshots, 74-51, at Philsports Arena on Sunday.
The 34-year-old center emphasized that he wanted to let the issue pass and instead help Meralco in its chase for a quarterfinal spot in the all-Filipino conference.
READ: Raymond Almazan suspended one game by PBA for EDSA bus lane breach
“I want to really forget about it but of course, there’s social media. I’m not a perfect person, all of us make mistakes so I said sorry already. I admit that it was an honest mistake. It affected me because I thought of my team. I’m one of the veterans so I need to lead by example and I wanted to show it today,” said Almazan in Filipino.
“[In] this game, I kind of lost those issues and I focused on the game now because we want to enter the quarters. All the distractions, we’ll set those aside and see what happens.”
With Almazan out, Meralco suffered a crucial loss to Converge, which posted its first win at the expense of the Bolts.
READ: Meralco shuts down Magnolia to remain in playoff race
Almazan came back in Meralco’s 82-76 win over Phoenix but only recorded three points and four rebounds.
It was on Sunday when Almazan truly returned to form inside the hardwood and he has coaches Luigi Trillo and Nenad Vucenic to thank for.
“Coach Luigi (Trillo) has known me since my D-League days. He’s the one who leads me up every game. Even in bad games, he’s always there to tell me that he trusts and believes in me, even our coaching staff, coach Nenad, I’m thankful for them.”
