Like most of the players who were traded by their teams recently, Allein Maliksi wasted little time making an impact for his new team Meralco.
Maliksi, acquired from Blackwater along with backup big man Ray Mar Jose in a swap for KG Canaleta and Mike Tolomia and two second round picks, contributed 12 points five rebounds, two assists and one steal in an error-free debut as the Bolts clobbered San Miguel, 125-99.
"We traded to get Maliksi because we thought he'd be able to come in and give us more spacing around the offense of Allen Durham and he did that. He came in right in the beginning and really spaced the floor for us, knocked down some jump shots," said coach Norman Black.
"I'm really excited about coach Norman. It's another opportunity for me to learn and improve my game," said the 6-foot-4 swingman. "Thankful ako sa mga teammates ko kasi maganda ang teamwork dito sa team, hinahanap nila ako."
Black says Maliksi fills up Meralco's needs at the No. 3 spot.
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"Maliksi will help us immediately because that's the position where we needed some consistent shooting. Because he's matured, he's a veteran, he's been through the wars already and he can shoot the basketball, I think he will help us a lot in that area," said the Bolts mentor.
"Bong Quinto has steeped in and done a good job for us and he'll continue to play but at the same time, the combination of these two guys will probably help us moving forward," he added.
For Maliksi, the goal with Meralco is to once more enjoy that championship feeling he once had while with the grandslam winning San Mig Coffee in 2014.
"Dito sa Meralco, gusto ko makapag champion ulit katulad nung nasa Purefoods pa ako," he said.
"And hopefully, mabalik ko yung game ko na nawala kasi medyo nag-struggle din talaga ako when I was with Blackwater. So yun ang focus ko right now, mag-improve ulit ang game ko." (OL)
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