Blackwater Elite seek redemption with Jarrid Famous

MANILA, Philippines — Blackwater team owner Dioceldo Sy said the other day failing to qualify for the PBA Philippine Cup playoffs because of the quotient system was a bitter pill to swallow but the Elite is pumped up to bounce back in the second conference with 6-10 import Jarrid Famous.

At the end of the Philippine Cup eliminations, Blackwater was tied with GlobalPort, Phoenix and TNT for seventh place, toting identical 5-6 records. Under the rules, the four-way deadlock was broken by installing the team with the highest quotient at No. 7, eliminating the team with the lowest quotient to drop to No. 10 and leaving the other two teams to battle in a one-game playoff for eighth spot. GlobalPort had a factor of +36 or a quotient of 1.136 while Blackwater was struck out with -29 and a quotient of 0.893. Phoenix (+1) and TNT (-8) squared off for the last quarterfinals ticket with the KaTropa winning, 118-97.

“We felt bad we were ousted without a fight,” said Sy. “The good news is Famous has signed up with us and is arriving on April 9. He’ll give us a solid 30 points and 20 rebounds a game, shooting 60 percent from the field and 80 percent from the line.” Looking ahead, Sy said the coming PBA draft could be one of the best ever if Kobe Paras and Bobby Ray Parks join.

Sy’s younger brother Silliman, the Blackwater PBA governor, said the Elite will be ready to compete with a healthy lineup. “Blackwater is blessed with a much-improved Poy Erram who always plays to win, the spirit of which may be lacking in some players,” he said. “Famous will be a big brother guiding the team and has the chance to show that he’s a force to reckon with. Our modest goal in the Commissioner’s Cup is to reach the semifinals.”

In the Philippine Cup, Blackwater brought down powerhouses San Miguel Beer, 106-96, Barangay Ginebra, 94-77 and Rain Or Shine, 92-87. The Elite could’ve qualified for the playoffs outright but lost close decisions to Meralco, 103-98, Alaska, 88-84, Magnolia, 78-72 and NLEX, 93-90. What pulled Blackwater’s quotient down was a 25-point loss to GlobalPort, 101-76.

Mac Belo, Erram, Mike DiGregorio, Allein Maliksi and Toto Jose carried the Blackwater load throughout the conference with support from James Sena, Roi Sumang, Mike Cortez, Renz Palma, John Pinto, Dave Marcelo, Chris Javier, Ael Banal and Kyle Neypes. Belo averaged 15.8 points and 6.1 rebounds, Erram 14.2 points and 13.8 rebounds, DiGregorio 14.1 points with a three-point clip of 49 percent, Maliksi 13.0 points and 6.9 rebounds and Jose 9.1 points and 5.9 rebounds.

Famous, 29, is a naturalized Lebanese citizen who played two seasons with the University of South Florida varsity before suiting up as an import in Slovakia, Dominican Republic, China, Taiwan, Bahrain, Venezuela, Israel, United Arab Emirates, Puerto Rico and Argentina. In 2011-12, he made his PBA debut with Meralco and three seasons later, returned to play with GlobalPort, averaging 30.2 points and 23 rebounds in nine outings. Famous also played for Petron in the ABL. 

“Jarrid is an unbelievable rebounder and a high-intensity player who’ll change a lot of things around the basket,” said South Florida coach Stan Heath. Famous averaged 25.2 points and 13.6 rebounds in his second year at Westchester Community in New York in 2008-09 to rank as the 11th best junior college player in the US.