“They (Bolts) are a stronger team now,” Uichico said. “We all know that the players they got during the off-season could be explosive.” Turned out Uichico’s fears were unfounded. The final score was a solid proof.

Starting hot before applying a cold splash to a fiery comeback by Meralco in the second half, Ginebra ho-hummed to a 115-98 win over the PBA’s youngest franchise for a rousing start in the import-flavored tournament at the Ilocos Norte Centennial Arena in Laoag City.

Import Nate Brumfield nearly registered a triple-double right on his first stint on Philippine soil, collecting 32 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, while Mark Caguioa added 20 points and was the one responsible for Ginebra’s breakaway run in the second period.

While the outcome is the type coaches wish for, it wasn’t the kind Uichico had expected from a ball club that looked an authentic contender after acquiring ace guard Sol Mercado from Rain or Shine, Ren-Ren Ritualo from Powerade, and Reynel Hugnatan from Alaska.

Hugnatan did not see action because of an injury, but Mercado scored 14 first-quarter points before fading in the second half to finish with 20. Ritualo, meantime, went scoreless.

Simply put, Meralco is a team that’s still going through enormous birth pains.

“They’re still in a stage trying to improve on their chemistry,” said Uichico. “Give them a few more games and I think you will see the true strength of that team.” Meralco, a ball club that made a shocking playoff appearance in the Philippine Cup (fifth spot) before going out after the quarter-finals against Ryan Gregorio’s former team Derby Ace, however did create some jolt.

Down by 12-22 in the opening quarter, the Bolts fought back with a 10-0 run, with Mercado scoring five, to tie the count.

That, however, was the best Meralco could offer.

Ginebra scored 33 points in the second quarter to assume a 59-42 lead at the half, and then thwarted another counter-assault by the Bolts toward the end of third quarter and at the early fourth.

The Kings, third placers in the Philippine Cup, needed a five-point cluster from two-time MVP Willie Miller to hold back the Bolts, who cut down a 24-point, 83-59 deficit to within 87-76 early in the final period.

Miller converted two free throws and then stopped and popped for a three-point shot, carrying the Kings out of trouble and onto a 92-76 advantage. Ginebra was never again threatened from there.

The win was a fitting welcome for Brumfield, the product from Oklahoma Baptist University coming in from a stint in the Mexican league where he averaged 14.5 points in 32 games.

He had the better numbers compared to Anthony Danridge, the supposed better import on paper for being a US NCAA slam dunk champion and one who had just seen action in the tough Lebanese league having the second-highest scoring average of 28 points per game next only to the popular Fadi El-Khatib.

Danridge finished with 30 points.

But while Meralco may be a team with plenty of promise, time certainly isn’t on its side.

The Bolts will have to fast-track whatever improvements they have since the tournament only calls for a single-round robin among the 10 competing ball clubs. Worse, four teams after the elimination round will be booted out.

Miller ended up with 16 points and Ronald Tubid had 15 for Ginebra.

Asi Taulava, on the other hand, contributed 23 points for Meralco, which only drew six points from franchise player Mark Cardona, the man who knocked in the winning shot when the Bolts and the Kings similarly opened hostilities in the Philippine Cup, 73-72.

Under the new format, the top two teams after the eliminations will advance outright to the semi-finals. The third-to-sixth-ranked teams will dispute the two remaining Final Four berths in the quarterfinal round series.