By REYNALD MAGALLON
Meralco has decided to take a new direction in its franchise and elevated Luigi Trillo to the head coaching position, ending the eight-year leadership of Norman Black, the team announced on Monday, May 7.
Trillo, who first served as Bolts assistant since 2014, is officially making his head coaching return since he called the shots for Alaska from 2011 to 2014, while Black will be relegated into the team consultant role.
Serbian coach Nenad Vucinic has been promoted as well and now will serve as an active consultant.
Under Black, Meralco turned into a consistent championship contending team, having reached the semifinals of the six of the last seven conferences and making the Finals of the PBA Governors’ Cup in four of the last seven editions, including the first appearance for the franchise in 2016.
“”I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to the Meralco management and the MVP group for supporting myself and the Bolts,” said Black in a statement.
“I wish to thank the players and my coaching staff for their hard work and positive attitudes in their efforts to make the team successful over the years. I now look forward to helping the team in my capacity as team consultant in our continued quest to bring a championship to the Meralco franchise,” he added.
The Bolts, however, just couldn’t get over the hump in the Finals, falling to Barangay Ginebra in all of their final appearances – something the team hopes to overcome come next season with the partnership of Trillo and Vucinic leading the team.
Trillo, in fact, gave Meralco its first series win against Ginebra during the quarterfinals of the Philippine Cup where he briefly took over for the team after Black had to leave for US to attend to his then-ailing mother.
“We thank Coach Norman for his unwavering commitment and the indelible mark he has left on the organization. We are also grateful to have Coach Nenad and Coach Luigi taking on new roles in leading the Bolts,” said Bolts team manager Paolo Trillo.
