By Waylon Galvez
Games Today (Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay City)
4:30 p.m. – Columbian Dyip vs San Miguel
7 p.m. – Rain or Shine vs NLEX
Four more teams debut today with San Miguel Beer and NLEX, two teams that made significant moves during the off-season, looking for inspiring starts as they battle different opponents in the 44th PBA Philippine Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City.
The tournament favorite Beermen face the Columbian Dyip at 4:30 p.m., before the NLEX Road Warriors take on the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the second game set at 7 p.m.
The defending champions Beermen have added Terrence Romeo to their already formidable arsenal, but whether he can deliver the impressive numbers he used to produce for NorthPort in his first five years will be known today.
He won three straight Scoring Champion award before NorthPort shipped him TNT KaTropa after a televised spat with coach Pido Jarencio.
He did not last long at TNT as he also reportedly had a fall out with veteran Jayson Castro and Roger Pogoy due to chemistry issue.
Despite Romeo’s on-and-off court issues, San Miguel management believes Romeo can be of big help in its bid to extend its record run in the PH Cup to five seasons.
“That’s in the past, he’s now with San Miguel Beer so that’s our main focus, and of course, this is a team effort so we have to all work together. So far, we’re doing good in our practice,” said coach Leo Austria.
Firepower is not much of a problem for SMB since its core remains intact led by five-time MVP June Mar Fajardo and 2013 MVP Arwind Santos.
Aside from Fajardo and Santos, the Beermen also have veteran guards Chris Ross and Alex Cabagnot, shooter Marcio Lassiter, back up center/forward Kelly Nabong.
Durable Ronald Tubid is back with the team after a forgettable stint with the Dyip.
“This game against Columbian, it’s our first game so we’ll know where we’re at although we prepared hard. We expect a tough game because our opponent has also added a few pieces on their roster,” he added.
Columbian Dyip, which won just a single game out of 11 matches in last season’s Philippine Cup as Kia, hopes to unleash the might of No. 1 pick CJ Perez.
Aside from the 6-foot-2 Perez, the team of mentor Jonhedel Cardel also signed rookies JP Calvo and Jeepy Faundo to team up with holdovers Rashawn McCarthy and Jeramy King, as well as Eric Camson, Glenn Khobuntin, Russel Escoto and veteran center Jay-R Reyes.
Like most teams, NLEX also added an important piece on its roster as it obtained center John Paul Erram, a legitimate 6-foot-8 post up player.
Aside from the addition of Erram, NLEX will get a big boost with the return of guard Kevin Alas, who suffered an ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) tear the sidelined him most of last season, as he reunites with Larry Fonacier, Cyrus Baguio, Juami Tiongson and Kenneth Ighalo.
Rain or Shine didn’t do much tweaking with its lineup with mainstays James Yap, who recently signed a three-year deal, Gabe Norwood, Beau Belga, Mav Ahanmisi, and Jewel Ponferada. It signed two rookies, however, in Javee Mocon and Jayjay Alejandro.
The 6-foot-7 Almazan is a doubtful starter after twisting his left ankle during the team’s recent practice.
