Prized PBA draftees show wares
Top rookie draftees Mac Belo and Raphael Banal, and former ABL star Matthew Wright finally strut their stuff in the local pro league as Blackwater and Phoenix Petroleum square off in the second playdate of the 2016-17 PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum tonight.
TNT KaTropa and Rain or Shine, both still in the period of adjustment under new coaches, mix it up in the day’s other game in the season’s first regular double-header after the Sunday lone game kickoff where San Miguel Beer waylaid Star, 96-88.
The Elite and the Fuel Masters clash at 4:15 p.m. then the Texters and the Elasto Painters face off at 7 p.m., featuring the pro debuts of other top rookies Roger Pogoy, Mike Tolomia and Gelo Alolino, and the initial games of veterans Jay Washington, Doug Kramer, James Forrester, Dylan Ababou and Ronjay Buenafe with their new teams.
Coaches Nash Racela and Caloy Garcia also take the spotlight as they call the shots for the Texters and the E-Painters in lieu of Jong Uichico and Yeng Guiao, respectively.
With Racela still listed as head coach of the FEU Tams in the UAAP, assistant coach Josh Reyes may play an active part on the TNT bench. Garcia, meanwhile, has to wait awhile to have James Yap at his disposal.
Yap barely returned to practice Monday after undergoing an arthroscopic surgery to scrape bone spurs in his right knee. The two-time MVP winner with the Star Hotshots, a trade replacement to Paul Lee, will miss at least the first two games of the E-Painters in the season.
But focus will be on Belo, undisputedly the best talent in the recent rookie draft.
“I’m so excited as I’m about to realize my dream of playing in the PBA,” said Belo, expected to become the cornerstone of the new Blackwater team featuring other new key acquisitions in Banal, Ababou, Forrester, Buenafe and Jason Melano.
The Blackwater management and coaching staff now have a fighting team in a roster that includes Arthur dela Cruz, James Sena, Reil Cervantes, Kyle Pascual, Riego Gamalinda and Denok Miranda.
Belo and his teammates will be up against the Phoenix team that also underwent a facelift in the offseason, bringing in rookies Wright, Alolino and Jeff Javilonar and trade recruits Kramer and John Wilson.
Old hands staying with the team are JC Intal, Willie Wilson, Chico Lanete, Mark Borboran and Cyrus Baguio.
Both the Elite and the Fuel Masters are hoping to be playoff contenders with all their deals in the offseason.
Meanwhile, TNT and ROS figure in a duel of old fancied teams.
Both still have the core of their champion rosters. The Texters are the three-peat Philippine Cup champs from 2011-13 while the E-Painters have just won the Commissioner’s Cup championship last year.
Jayson Castro and Ranidel de Ocampo remain as the leaders of the TNT squad, which also hopes to draw solid performances from Troy Rosario and Moala Tautuaa in their second year in the pros.
The E-Painters made some changes on the exit of Guiao. Aside from Yap, other new recruits are Jay Washington, Mike Tolomia and Dexter Maiquez.