Rival teams beefing up to challenge Metrostars

At least seven teams have come up with massive build-up and are raring to showcase the skills of their Fil-foreign players in their bid to gain the championship with three days left before the MBA kicks off its third season on Sunday in two venues.

But Alex Compton of the Manila Metrostars remains the yardstick of the 11 Fil-foreign cagers seeing action in the FedEx Cross-over Cup, the first leg of a three-phase MBA league which culminates in a grand finals, featuring the top teams in the first two conferences, in October.

Compton, whose firepower helped power the Metrostars to the national crown last year, is again expected to lead the team's title-retention bid together with MVP Romel Adducul and fellow Fil-foreign cager Augustus Brown.

But a host of other foreign-bred players are out to prove their worth, including Jeffrey Flowers of Laguna and the San Juan Knights tandem of Kalani Ferreira and Phillip Newton. The rest of the cast includes Stephen Antonio (Batangas), John Dumont (Pasig-Rizal), Matt Mitchell and Kenny Evans (Cebu), and Godfrey Cosio (Socsargen).