SAN MIG COFFEE OPENS COMM’S CUP DEFENSE VS ENERGIZED BARAKO BULL
San Mig Coffee is up for an exciting match against Barako Bull as the Mixers start their title defense in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Energy Cola are now a team featuring former San Mig Coffee mainstays Jonas Villanueva, JC Intal and Josh Urbiztondo.
Barako Bull also features other new recruits in Jojo Duncil, Allein Maliksi and Mark Macapagal plus the returning Don Allado.
The Energy Cola are a new mix playing a new system under the coaching tandem of Rajko Toroman and Bong Ramos.
“Barako, with coach (Rajko) Toroman, their new additions and (import Evan) Brock, has the opportunity to be very good this conference. They are truly a dark horse in this race,” said San Mig Coffee coach Tim Cone.
“For us, we’re still trying to find our chemistry amongst the changes we made, but we have a veteran core that can keep us competing while we discover ourselves,” Cone added.
After their third place finish in the last conference, the Mixers return to play with new recruits of their own in Alex Mallari, Leo Najorda and Lester Alvarez.
The core, however, remains composed of James Yap, Marc Pingris, PJ Simon, Rafi Reavis, Joe Devance, Yancy de Ocampo and Mark Barroca.
Mallari, a rookie transferee from Petron Blaze, is expected to play a key role, splitting time with Barroca at the point spot.
In the recent Philippine Cup, San Mig Coffee placed a strong second to eventual champion Talk n Text during the elims, then got past Petron Blaze in the quarterfinals before being eliminated by Rain or Shine in the semifinals.
Barako Bull fared badly, failing to make it past the eliminations with a woeful 4-10 win-loss slate.
The Energy Cola hope to turn their fortunes around in the Commissioner’s Cup with the help of Brock. Toroman has high hopes on the former Alabama U stalwart who’s said to be an intimidating inside presence with quickness at 6-9.
San Mig’s Rogers is also highly touted. Rogers played with the Texas Legends in the 2011-12 NBA D-League season, putting in 7.1 points and 4.4 rebounds a game. In the last NBA Summer League, he hooked up with the Indiana Pacers, playing five games. (SB)
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