Ranidel de Ocampo is still groping for form after being out for months due to injury, but Meralco coach Norman Black is glad nonetheless he has another floor spacer at his disposal.
The return of the Meralco forward, who last played in Game 4 of the PBA Governors' Cup finals before going down with a calf injury, augurs well for the Bolts who also got a boost from returning Garvo Lanete (hand injury) and Cliff Hodge (knee injury).
Black said De Ocampo's presence will spread the floor for the Bolts and more importantly, give hulking import Arinze Onuaku more room to wreak havoc inside the paint.
"He's still a little bit rusty but what he does is give us a threat. Every time he's on the floor, the other team has to respect the fact that he can make shots from inside and out," Black said in the aftermath of Meralco's 93-82 win over Ginebra on Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
"And a lot of times, we need that floor spacing to give Arinze a little bit of room to maneuver so I'm happy he's back. We've missed him for almost two conferences now so I think he'll be a big help as far as experience and of course talent."
De Ocampo was supposed to return at the onset of the Commissioner's Cup. Unfortunately, he injured his Achilles.
While he's now cleared to play, Black managed his minutes. Still, the former Gilas Pilipinas mainstay churned out five points - including a three-pointer at the height of Meralco's third quarter surge that proved to be the game changer - to go with three rebounds and the same number of assists.
De Ocampo couldn't help but feel good to be back.
"I'm happy I contributed to the team in the victory. I'm proud of my teammates because they really worked hard on both ends, especially our import and the coaching staff who designed the game plan. Good thing we executed the game plan," he said in Filipino.