GlobalPort, Kia square off
Games Today (Smart Araneta Coliseum) 4:30 p.m. – GlobalPort vs Kia 6:45 p.m. – Rain or Shine vs TNT KaTropa
GlobalPort faces Kia today in the PBA Governors’ Cup or three weeks since GlobalPort coach Franz Pumaren and prized guard Stanley Pringle figured in a shouting match.
Whether the two have already patched up their differences as told by GlobalPort management will be known when the Batang Pier collide with the Picanto at 4:30 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“Everything is ok. Now we are looking forward to winning our game,” said GlobalPort alternate governor to the PBA board and AirAsia executive Erick Arejola yesterday when contacted by Bulletin-Tempo.
Clashing at 6:45 p.m. are Rain or Shine and TNT KaTropa with the former out to improve their 1-2 mark.
GlobalPort dropped its previous game to Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, 124-108, last July 30 – a game marred by an incident when Pumaren and Pringle got involved in a heated exchange of words.
In a YouTube post by TV broadcaster Sports 5, Pumaren pointed to Pringle for his lack of defensive effort guarding his man.
Disappointed, Pringle responded by shouting and throwing a towel in front of his coach.
Pringle then slapped hard the whiteboard on a ball-boy’s hand before he was pacified by teammates Dylan Ababou, Ryan Arana and Rico Maierhofer, and later by Bonnie Tan, Arejola and import Murphy Holloway.
Pumaren, a champion coach at De La Salle in the UAAP, was heard shouting at Pringle, “You don’t talk to me like that! You don’t talk to me like that!” and added, “You didn’t hassle on defense!”
After that game with the Kings, Pumaren acknowledged that things like that happen, particularly when the coach and the player are at the heat of the moment and both just want to compete.
GlobalPort will continue to miss the services of ace point guard Terrence Romeo, who is with Gilas Pilipinas in the FIBA Asia Cup in Beirut, Lebanon.
Without the 5-foot-11 Romeo, Pumaren will rely heavily on the playmaking of Pringle, plus the all-around game of import Murphy Holloway, who is averaging 32.5 points and 22 rebounds with three assists, three steaks and 2.5 shot blocks in his first two games with GlobalPort.
As for Kia, which fell to 0-6 following a loss to Rain or Shine (94-86) last Sunday, Picanto assistant coach Chris Gavina will still lean on import Markeith Cummings, who averages nearly 26 points and 10 rebounds.
Equally exciting is the game of ROS and TNT, which likewise won its previous assignment when it downed Alaska 107-106 that improved its record to 2-1. ROS won its last game against Kia with new import J’Nathan Bullock, who had 20 points and 10 rebounds.