BLACKWATER POOL DOWN TO 20
Blackwater Sports Elite is now in the final phase of naming its roster for its PBA debut.
Team governor Silliman Sy revealed to pba.ph their pool of 20 players, which is a combination of their PBA D-League team and the players they got from the Expansion Draft last month.
“Nagsisimula na kami na pumili ng players na maiiwan sa team. Right now kasi nasa conditioning pa kami,” said Sy, brother of team owner Dioceldo.
“Continuous practice pa rin kami, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. From there, we hope the coaching staff will slowly see the progress of each player and make the decision (on the roster),” he added.
Blackwater Sports came from a first runner-up finish in the 6-nation pocket tournament in Penang, Malaysia last week with a team composed primarily of their D-League core and pool of invitees.
In the said 6-nation pocket tournament, the Ever Bilena franchise brought D-League mainstays Hyram Bagatsing, Gio Ciriacruz,Gilbert Bulawan, Pari Llagas, Allan Mangahas and Bacon Austria, who were reinforced by PBA veterans Eddie Laure and Bambam Gamalinda.
The Elite also imported 2014 PBA Draft hopefuls Jericho Cruz, Juami Tiongson and Raul Soyud and invitees Bambam Gamalinda and Paul Zamar.
Just last Saturday, the team utilized its Expansion draftees but lack of cohesion made them pay, suffering a humbling 61-114 loss to the visiting Athletes in Action team from the USA.
Expansion Draft top pick Danny Ildefonso led the charge for Blackwater Sports, who was also represented by other draftees in Alex Nuyles, Paul Artadi, Chris Timberlake, Norman Gonzales, Brian Faundo, JP Erram and Rob Celiz.
The team also paraded Tiongson, Cruz and Laure in the said scrimmage.
Sy bared that an invitation to join a tournament in Dubai was also ruled out by the team owing to their focus in finalizing their lineup.
“We have an invitation for an August 20 to 27 tournament in Dubai. We already turned it down. Kasi masyado nang madikit saka tatapat sa Draft yun on August 24 eh,” he said.
“Gusto sana namin, kaya lang alanganin na ang date. Sayang nga,” added Sy.
Blackwater Sports team manager Johnson Martines bared that they are still awaiting for the result of the coming Rookie Draft where the Elite will pick 12th and 23rd overall.
“May mga napipili na kami pero sa ngayon talaga hinihintay pa namin ang Rookie Draft saka kami magfa-finalize. Continuous yung scrimmage and practices namin tapos tinitignan kung pano babagay sa sistema ni coach,” said Martines.
“Regarding sa kung paano mabubuo yung team namin… nasa kay coach Leo ang lahat ng desisyon. Sa kanya namin iniatang at pinagkatiwala ang lahat,” added the longtime Ever Bilena official. (SBadua)
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