Rigodon of players

At last count, there were 28 players, excluding imports, who’ll be playing for new teams in the PBA Governors’ Cup starting today. Teams are clearly building up because nobody likes to stay stagnant if they’re losing. But even recent Philippine Cup champion TNT is fortifying and not resting on its laurels. Imports will be the focus of attention, no doubt, but they can’t win games all by themselves.

Take TNT. The Tropa signed up Gab Banal, who declined to remain with Alaska on a short-term contract, and brought in Carl Bryan Cruz from Blackwater. They’ll play major minutes for sure and make Giga even tougher. Blackwater was the topnotcher in terms of recruiting new faces. Coach Ariel Vanguardia, in his debut season with the Bossing, corralled eight fresh bodies. Jvee Casio, Barkley Ebona, Will McAloney, Rashawn McCarthy, Jay Washington, Jhong Baloria, Val Chauca and Mike Ayonayon are Vanguardia’s newcomers. Casio and KG Canaleta were designated Blackwater’s co-captains this conference.

“We have modest goals,” said Vanguardia. “We just want to improve one percent every day and before long, we’ll get to where we want to be. Our objective is to win every quarter. In two preseason games, we beat Meralco and lost to NLEX but we won six of the eight quarters. Of course, Meralco didn’t play with an import but our import (Jaylen Bond) played sparingly. Against NLEX, which I consider to be a contender, we lost by nine.” Vanguardia hired two strength and conditioning coaches to get the players ready for a 48-minute grind. Blackwater’s waterloo in the past was faltering in the last quarter and lacking the finishing kick. “You’ll be surprised how fit our guys are, like Baser (Amer) and Andre (Paras),” he said. “I’m excited about Andre who’s now full-time into basketball, no more showbiz. He’s slimmed down, jumping like never before and playing well. We’re a backcourt-oriented team with Josh Torralba, Baser, Jvee, Paul Desiderio, Ed Daquioag and Ron Dennison. We’re a defensive team that likes to run. We hope to win four or five games in the elims to be able to sneak into the playoffs. More than anything, we want to be an exciting team that’s fun to watch.”

Phoenix landed four recruits, including FilBasket MVP Simon Camacho who’s never played in the PBA. Sean Manganti, Sean Anthony and Nico Salva are the other new faces. Salva and Anthony, however, are doubtful to play in the early going. Salva is recovering from a minor calf injury while Anthony is also rehabbing.

NorthPort gave up Anthony and Sidney Onwubere but got Arwind Santos and Art de la Cruz. LA Revilla and Jeepy Faundo were relegated to the 3x3 league with new recruits Michael Calisaan and Mark Olayon. Terrafirma was reinforced by Alex Cabagnot, Justin Melton and Kyle Pascual while Magnolia added size with 6-10 James Laput. Alaska failed to make it to the playoffs in the previous conference, losing its last four outings and welcomed Mike Tolomia to take over Casio’s slot. Rain Or Shine took in Trevis Jackson while Meralco tapped Franky Johnson. NLEX got back Marion Magat to fill the void left by Poy Erram and enlisted Kris Rosales. San Miguel Beer picked up Vic Manuel and Simon Enciso. Ginebra recruited Onwubere.