Will Fil-foreigners play less in PBA

It’s still not certain if the PBA will adjust the requirement of Fil-foreigners to play at least 14 games in the PBA D-League before gaining eligibility to apply for the PBA draft. There will be only one D-League conference this season so Fil-foreigners intending to join the draft must play in the coming tournament if they haven’t seen action in the D-League yet. The exception is if a Fil-foreigner has played for the national team or is at least 28.

For locals to be eligible for the PBA draft, they must play at least seven games in the D-League. The coming D-League conference will start on Feb. 14 at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig and if the best-of-five finals goes the distance, it will end on July 4 at the latest or before the inaugurals of the NCAA season.

Because the SEA Games will be held here on Nov. 30-Dec. 11, the SBP is requiring the basketball competitions in the NCAA and UAAP to finish by November. The NCAA will open hostilities in July and the UAAP in August. 

There have been 15 D-League conferences held since 2010-11. Traditionally, the D-League plays two conferences a season – the Aspirants Cup and Foundation Cup. Last season, Zark’s Burgers-Lyceum took the Aspirants trophy and Go For Gold-St. Benilde bagged the Foundation title.

This season, at least 24 teams expressed interest to join the D-League. The cast was eventually trimmed to 20, a record in the D-League’s history. Of the 20 teams, 15 are school-based. The 20 entries are Go For Gold-Benilde, Ateneo, San Beda, St. Clare, CEU, Che’Lu Bar and Grill, Marinerong Pilipinas, Batangas EAC, AMA Online Education, Perpetual, Wangs, FEU, UST, NU, Letran, San Sebastian, Diliman College, Phoenix-Enderun, Trinity College and McDavid. 

In the recent D-League draft, a record 61 players of 151 applicants were picked over 20 rounds. The top pick was former ABL standout Joshua Munzon. Others who were chosen included Dodong Santillan, Jay Pangalangan, Sean Manganti, Troy Rike, Anton Asistio, Kib Montalbo, Juan Gomez de Liano, Matt Aquino, Roosevelt Adams, Noah Webb and Jasper Parker. Santillan, Rike, de Liano and Adams are with the Mighty Sports squad now playing in an international tournament in Dubai.

Fil-Am Jason Brickman attempted to join the PBA draft last year but was underage to gain eligibility without going through the D-League.  He’ll be 28 on Nov. 19 so if the PBA draft is held in December, the crack guard from Long Island University will be allowed to join. Brickman is a potential first overall pick.

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Where is guard R. R. Garcia headed? The 5-11 former UAAP MVP from FEU was GlobalPort’s first round draft pick in 2013, the sixth overall, and has bounced from the Batang Pier to Barako/Phoenix to Star to San Miguel Beer and to TNT KaTropa. 

Garcia, 29, averaged 14.9 points in 2015-16 and is no slouch. But for some reason, he hasn’t been able to find a warm home in the PBA. There is talk that Blackwater may be interested to sign him even for one conference after TNT recently put him on the unrestricted free agents list. His TNT contract, however, remains live so he’ll continue to receive the salary stipulated in his agreement until it expires in August. A team that picks him up will absorb the remaining cost of his contract or may work a deal with TNT to share in his salary.

Blackwater’s backcourt corps is made up of Mike DiGregorio, Mike Cortez, Ael Banal, Gelo Alolino, Roi Sumang, Diego Dario, Alfrancis Tamsi and Paul Desiderio. Obviously, there is room to improve the quality of the guards. Garcia could provide stability because of his experience.

Blackwater team owner Dioceldo Sy had hoped for a strong start from the Elite in the PBA Philippine Cup but the outlook dimmed when first round draft pick Bobby Ray Parks decided to finish his commitments with Alab in the ABL before moving to the PBA. Another prospect Gab Banal won’t be available until the MPBL Datu Cup ends. Banal, 28, is committed to play out the conference with the Bacoor Strikers whose coach happens to be former Blackwater head tactician Leo Isaac. Banal, a former GlobalPort player ready to make a PBA comeback, is the leading candidate for MVP honors in the MPBL.

Blackwater recently went on an overnight bonding trip to Subic and PBA governor Silliman Sy said it was purely a team building exercise with no basketball in the agenda. From the trip, the Elite returned to action and upset previously unbeaten Rain Or Shine, 111-99, at the Cuneta Astrodome last Wednesday. The win snapped Blackwater’s two-game losing streak.

Last Friday, Blackwater fell behind by 37 and eventually lost a 114-95 decision to undefeated Phoenix. DiGregorio, who scored 27 points including 7-of-10 from beyond the arc against Rain Or Shine, finished with only five points and was 0-of-4 from distance.  DiGregorio was visibly tired from his extended minutes two nights back and couldn’t duplicate his explosion while his parents David and Tia watched from courtside at the Ynares Center in Antipolo. 

Another Blackwater player Abu Tratter stepped up to notch a career-high 24 points against Phoenix and he, too, had his parents in the venue. Like DiGregorio, Tratter’s father is American and mother is Filipina. But unlike DiGregorio who was born in the US, Tratter was born in Laguna, making him immediately eligible to play for the national squad. Tratter suited up for Gilas against Australia in the second window of the FIBA Asia/Pacific World Cup Qualifiers last year.

Blackwater recently added PBA legend Bogs Adornado to its coaching staff as a shooting doctor. He joins another PBA legend Romel Adducul who’s the Elite’s big man coach. Atoy Co was being considered to also join the Blackwater staff. “It’s not just in shooting where Bogs is a specialist,” said Sy. “It’s also the way he inspires attitude from his years of PBA experience. We’ve got two PBA legends to inspire our players.”

Blackwater coach Bong Ramos said he’s advised rookie Desiderio not to hesitate to take the shot if he’s open. Team owner Sy told Desiderio he has the license to shoot. “Nahihiya pa si Paul,” said Ramos. “Sometimes, kailangan makapal ang mukha mo at tumira.” Against Rain Or Shine, Desiderio hit six points in 19:17 minutes. Against Phoenix, he fired 12 points in 30:11 minutes. Ramos is giving Desiderio every opportunity to build his confidence and play to his potentials.