Meralco plugged its gaping hole at the middle by tapping Norbert Torres from Rain or Shine in exchange for Mac Belo heading into the 48th Season of the Philippine Basketball Association in October.
Bolts team manager Paolo Trillo made the confirmation to Daily Tribune, saying that they have to let go of Belo to address their looming problem in the shaded area following the departure of Reynel Hugnatan and Noy Baclao.
The veteran Hugnatan has been appointed to join the coaching staff of new Meralco coach Luigi Trillo while Baclao had been let go.
“We felt the need to get Norbert Torres as he can help out in the big men rotation. We lost two big men already — Reynel Hugnatan who is now part of the coaching staff and Noy Baclao whom we had released already,” Trillo said.
After a stellar career with Far Eastern University, the 30-year-old Belo had an underwhelming performance in the professional ranks after being hampered with injuries.
He played only 42 games for Meralco since getting traded from Blackwater in exchange for Baser Amer and Bryan Faundo two years ago before taking a leave of absence in the previous Governors’ Cup.
He will play under noted coach Yeng Guiao for the first time in his career.
Torres, meanwhile, played a key role for the Elasto Painters in the previous Governors’ Cup in which he averaged 6.6 points per game on 50-percent field goal shooting.
With Torres no longer around, Guiao is tipped to use his third and fourth picks in the coming PBA Annual Rookie Draft in selecting big men.
After all, a handful of big men will be available, including 6-foot-8 Justine Baltazar, 6-foot-8 Kenmark Cariño, 6-foot-7 Keith Datu and 6-foot-10 CJ Lane.
