By REYNALD MAGALLON
After his remarkable feat with the Letran Knights in the NCAA, coach Bonnie Tan is reportedly heading to a bigger and challenging stage.
Tan, according to multiple sources, would replace Pido Jarencio as head coach of the Batang Pier as the management is hoping that his “magic” will help change the team’s fortune.
The mild-mannered Tan steered the Knights to a three-peat – the school’s first since the glorious collegiate years of Samboy Lim with the Intramuros-based school.
NorthPort Governor Erick Arejola is yet to reply to a query at posting time.
Meantime, Terrafirma has pulled the trigger to what seemed to be another rebuild, sending another top pick in Joshua Munzon to NorthPort in exchange for veteran forward Kevin Ferrer.
The PBA trade committee gave the green light to the one-on-one swap between the Dyip and the Batang Pier after the initial trade package was denied and got revised.
Initially, Terrafirma was supposed to send Munzon along with Javi Gomez De Liano to NorthPort in exchange for Ferrer and Jasper Ayaay.
Change was inevitable for the Dyip especially after suffering a 25-game losing streak since the Governors’ Cup of last season and only winning once in the 23 games so far in the Philippine Cup and Commissioner’s Cup this season.
The move however saw Terrafirma let go of top overall pick for the third time now after trading away its first overall pick to San Miguel which became Christian Standhardinger in 2017 and CJ Perez, the 2018 top pick to the Beermen in 2021.
With the addition of Ferrer though the Dyip got a veteran piece and an additional outside threat who could help lessen the offensive load on the likes of Juami Tiongson and Alex Cabagnot.
Meanwhile, the change of scenery could also be what Joshua Munzon needs to rediscover his scoring touch after his averages dipped to just 12.8 points per game last conference from as high as 19 ppg in the season ending conference of last season.
