San Miguel Beer Coach Leo Austria said his team is seriously considering the possibility of signing an Asian import in the ongoing PBA Governors’ Cup due to the injuries of key players.
“We need an Asian import,” Austria said after the Beermen defeated the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 104-91, last Tuesday at the Mall of Asia Arena for their first win after a 0-2 start.
“The other teams, they have a deeper bench, deeper rotation. It’s a matter of time, we’ll see by next week.”
Teams can opt to sign an Asian import with a maximum height limit of 6-foot-3 to go along with its regular reinforcement.
SMB is one of four teams that started the conference without an Asian reinforcement. The others are Alaska, Rain or Shine and Blackwater.
The squads that signed Asian imports are league-leader Globalport (Omar Krayem of Palestine), Talk ‘N Text (Sam Daghles of Jordan), Meralco (Seiya Ando of Japan), Barangay Ginebra (Sanchir Tungalag of Mongolia), Kia (Jet Chang of Taiwan) and NLEX (Michael Madanly of Syria).
Import AZ Reid had 36 points, 11 rebounds and six assists in 43 minutes despite a stomach flu that he’s been dealing since the conference began as San Miguel finally played with a sense of urgency after disappointing defeats to Kia and Meralco. (Waylon Galvez)