Blackwater taps ‘very athletic’ MJ Rhett: ‘We see that he can dominate’
FILE— M.J. Rhett. (AP Photo/Skip Peterson)
After their breakthrough in the Philippine Cup, Blackwater is eyeing for a better finish come the Commissioner’s Cup with the help of 23-year-old import MJ Rhett.
The Elite has tapped the 6-foot-9 forward out of Ole Miss, who also played Latvia with Barons Kvartals Riga where he averaged 13.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.0 block in the Baltic Basketball League, to aid them in surpassing their quarterfinals finish.
“Nakakataba ng puso yung pag-qualify namin sa quarterfinals last conference but still, tapos na yun. We’ll just have to get a lot better going to the second conference and if were able to make it to the quarterfinals last conference, siguro our goal is to play good basketball and improve our placing this coming second conference,” said coach Leo Isaac.
For Isaac, Rhett is a great addition to Blackwater’s roster, which drew huge contributions from Carlo Lastimosa, Art dela Cruz, JP Erram, Reil Cervantes, and Mike Cortez last conference.
“He’s very athletic, although nangangapa pa rin sya with the system,” said the soft-spoken coach. “Sa ngayon, nakikita namin na he can dominate, but he reads situations, he makes good passes, and he involves his teammates. Mas kumportable sya playing the four. We’re expecting that he’ll be developing to a good import for Blackwater.”
Isaac is optimistic that Rhett will eventually blend well with the rest of the Elite.
“Yung players, kinakapa pa yung individual talent ng import. Hopefully, as we go along. The team chemistry will get better with regards to the import mixing with the local players.”
“Dahan-dahan lang. He’s very patient and he doesn’t want to rush things. He even wants to have viewing everyday so he’ll learn more on how it is in the PBA,” he continued. “With MJ, they will compliment each other and everybody will benefit from his team play.”
Not satisfied with just a quarterfinal finish, Isaac expects Blackwater to continue working hard.
“Our confidence is very high, but we want to be work further more.”
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