By Waylon Galvez
With Greg Slaughter still trying to be in his fighting form, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel has decided to make an import change, tabbing Charles Garcia in place of Shane Edwards for the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
The announcement came from no less than Ginebra head coach Tim Cone as he divulged that the 7-foot Slaughter is still not in full strength in time for the team’s first game in the mid-season tournament against Rain or Shine on April 29 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“We’ve decided to make a change in import,” said Cone yesterday.
“When we first contracted Shane Edwards, we believed Greg would be healthy and available to play, and Shane could play alongside him. But with Greg’s injury we feel that we need someone to replace Greg rather than play alongside him,” added the multi-titled coach.
The idea of Cone initially is for Ginebra to have Slaughter play the center spot, Japeth Aguilar in his usual power forward position, and the 6-foot-8 Edwards as small forward.
However, because of the status of Slaughter, who missed the latter part of the Philippine Cup due to a sprained right ankle, Ginebra will have a relatively small frontline since other teams have tapped taller imports to maximize the allowable height of not taller than 6-foot-10.
“So we’re bringing in a 6’10 big man in Charles Garcia – a player I have scouted in the past,” said Cone, who expects the onetime Seattle University stalwart to arrive today.
Garcia is a nine-year pro having played in different like Turkey, Mexico, Spain, Puerto Rico, Bahrain, South Korea and Iceland, and had stints in the D-League, the last was with the Austin Spurs.
Back in 2011, he won a D-League championship with the Iowa Energy where he played alongside former Ginebra imports Othyus Jeffers and Curtis Stinson, and NBA player Courtney Sims.
