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SERVICES
THE INQUIRER COMPANY
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04
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25
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2024
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SERVICES
THE INQUIRER COMPANY
04
25
2024
Alaska Milk and Rain or Shine were runners-up to San Miguel Beer in the recent Philippine Cup and they have gone through the same trouble in the initial run of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup – losing their marquee imports.
Both will be in their second game with their import replacements as the Aces and the Elasto Painters clash in a Petron Blaze Saturday Special at the MOA Arena in Pasay City.
The Aces gun for a second win in three games while the E-Painters chase a second win in four starts as they slug it out at 5:15 p.m.
Imports who will be the center of attraction are Alaska’s Shane Edwards and ROS’ Antoine Wright.
Alaska checked a sorry skid from the Philippine Cup finals, riding high on Edwards’ smashing PBA debut as the Aces toppled the Tropang TNT Texters, 108-100.
Edwards, an NBA D-League fixture with a brief stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers, piled up game highs of 36 points and 20 rebounds as the Aces bounced back from a 101-108 loss to the Blackwater Elite in their conference opening game they played without an import.
Meanwhile, Wright, suiting up with the E-Painters virtually straight from the airport, struggled with a 4-of-16 shooting in 28 minutes in a 92-103 loss to the Barangay Ginebra Kings.
Needless to say, Alaska coach Alex Compton was happy with what he saw on Edwards’ first game in the local pro league.
ROS coach Yeng Guiao, meanwhile, wasn’t surprised Wright wasn’t right that fateful night.
“Understandably, we have a new import. It’s the first time he played with our team. He just stepped out of the airplane. So that’s not really the best we could see of him,” said Guiao.
“But he’s promising. If we can get a few days with him to practice, to know his teammates, to know the system, we’ll get better.”
The E-Painters may have no other choice but to stick with Wright as Chism suffered a bad hamstring pull. Doctors said Chism, the Best Import awardee in this conference last year, could be out for a month.
Wright played five NBA seasons with the New Jersey Nets, the Dallas Mavericks, the Toronto Raptors and the Sacramento Kings.
The West Covina, California native was a highly recruited player coming from a stint with the USA team in the 2003 FIBA Junior World Championship where he averaged 6.8 points and 4.4 rebounds. He chose to attend Texas A&M and play under coach Melvin Watkins in a collegiate career marked by his Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Year citation, Honorable Mention All-Big 12 in his sophomore year and No. 4 finish in the Big 12 scoring ladder in his junior year.
“He’s a legit NBA player, picked very early in the first round. His major problem is he’s not in game-shape. He has no legs. He hasn’t played in seven months. That means he hasn’t competed in a competitive tournament in seven months. He has been keeping himself in shape playing pickup games but that’s totally different from playing a competitive league game,” said Guiao.
“He’s more of a wingman but I think he’s still going to be useful because the other teams will have him guarded by their big man but he has the quickness to beat them. He’s not a small guy,” Guiao added.
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