Will Romeo attend practice?

MANILA, Philippines — GlobalPort regroups for its first practice at the Green Meadows Gym in Quezon City tomorrow morning after failing to make it past Magnolia in the PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals but coach Pido Jarencio isn’t sure if Terence Romeo will attend.

It was confirmed the other day that TNT had proposed a trade for Romeo but the deal was rejected by the PBA review committee made up of legal counsel Melvin Mendoza, technical director Eric Castro and technical assistants Junior Bengua and Rose Teotico. The proposed trade never even got to PBA commissioner Willie Marcial’s desk as it was shot down at the committee level. TNT’s proposal was to trade Mo Tautuaa and Alfrancis Tamsi for Romeo and Bradwyn Guinto.

A GlobalPort source said TNT initiated the trade during the Philippine Cup eliminations where Romeo sat out the Batang Pier’s first 10 games, supposedly due to a nagging knee issue. Before the last game of the eliminations, Romeo asked Jarencio if he could be reactivated and was given the green light. Romeo’s return, however, was inconsequential as GlobalPort lost to Phoenix, 104-100 and to Magnolia, 86-79 with the crack guard averaging 17 points. Romeo hit a combined 1-of-13 from beyond the arc in both games. TNT tried to finalize the deal before the trade deadline last Feb. 15.

In the Magnolia loss last Tuesday, Romeo and Jarencio were involved in a verbal tussle after the Hotshots took over the lead, 54-53, on Mark Barroca’s triple with 3:20 left in the third period. Jarencio said it was a case of miscommunication and misunderstanding. “Not an issue,” he said. “Things like that happen, it’s part of the game. We both want to win and sometimes, we get emotional. Will Terence be traded? I don’t know. That’s up to management. We’ll call him to attend practice on Monday but will he show up?”

The altercation stemmed from Jarencio instructing Jonathan Grey to bring up the ball and it apparently ticked off Romeo. “It was a live play,” said a team source. “Terence got angry when coach Pido asked Grey to handle instead of him. Coach Pido reacted and Terence also reacted, even saying he’s not afraid of coach Pido. Things cooled down and coach Pido later brought Terence back to play.” Jarencio said he’s moved on from the incident.

Marcial said no revision of the proposed trade for Romeo has been made and the ball remains on TNT’s court. “If the deal’s not OK, then Terence stays with us,” said a GlobalPort source.

GlobalPort is considering bringing  in 6-9 James Williams of Brown Mackie Junior College as its import for the Commissioner’s Cup but a concern is his age. Williams, 38, led Brown Mackie of Kansas to the national JC championship in 2004-05 with a 35-1 record then turned pro. He graduated from high school seven years before enrolling at Brown Mackie. The globetrotting import has played in Mexico, Sweden, Estonia, Israel, Kuwait, Argentina, Jordan, Mexico, Uruguay and Chile. Williams hasn’t seen action since leaving Puerto Montt in the Chilean league last November. He averaged 13.6 points, 8.5 rebounds and 33.5 minutes in 11 games for Puerto Montt which registered a 3-8 record during his stint.