SMB gets Ex-Cavs as new import

Not leaving anything to chance, San Miguel Beer has tapped former Cleveland Cavalier John Holland to lead the grand slam-seeking Beermen to the finish line in place of the injured Dez Wells.

Wells sat on the SMB bench last Wednesday as June Mar Fajardo and the rest of the locals grinded out a 99-96 overtime thriller over Marqus Blakely and the Blackwater Elite, yet to fully recover from the ankle injury he sustained in their Oct. 27 game against Meralco.

The Beermen are currently chasing a Top 4 positioning and twiceto-beat advantage in the quarterfinals and SMB coach Leo Austria said they couldn’t risk playing All-Filipino again when they take on Rain or Shine in crucial Petron Saturday Special road game in LapuLapu City.

Thus they flew in Holland while relegating Wells to the injured list.

“We’re hoping maayos ang paperworks ni John Holland bukas (in time for Saturday),” said Austria, who expects Holland to arrive Friday.

“Since sinabi ni Wells he can’t play on Saturday, we got a backup. We can’t afford na walang import for the second time,” he added.

Austria couldn’t stress more the importance of their duel with the E-Painters.

“Very crucial ang game namin on Saturday. If he (Wells) cannot play, so there must be somebody who could replace him. The good thing is, this win can give us a lot of option eh, dahil kung natalo kami mahirap eh. But regarding Saturday’s game, may import or wala, makakalaro o hindi, we have to play at our best dahil we have a chance to make it (to the Top 4),” he added. —