It’s panic time and teams are starting to feel the pressure halfway through the elimination round.
A day after San Miguel Beer decided to give Ronald Roberts the boot by replacing him with old reliable Arizona Reid, three other teams – Rain or Shine, Talk ‘N Text and Alaska – have also made sudden changes.
Rain or Shine as expected brought back Wayne Chism to replace Rick Jackson. Chism arrived on Monday and has started practicing with the squad. Although he’s in tip-top shape, Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao said the import has trimmed down following his stint in Israel.
“He needs to bulk up because he will go up against bigger imports like Sol Alabi and PJ Ramos, so it will be a big concern for us,” added Guiao.
Chism will play in the Elasto Painters’ next game against the Alaska Aces, who also decided to replace young DJ Covington with a more experienced reinforcement – NBA veteran Damion Jones.
Head coach Alex Compton said they’ve not stopped searching for a back up import even when former import Rob Dozier wasn’t available.
The 27-year-old Jones played for two NBA teams – the Brooklyn Nets and the San Antonio Spurs before he was relegated to the D-League to play for the Texas Legends.
But the surprising move came from Talk ‘N Text, which decided to release reigning Best Import Richard Howell and turned to another NBA veteran –Ivan Johnson.
Talk ‘N Text coach Jong Uichico believes his decision wasn’t a popular one, but it was a personal choice for him to hire Johnson, 6-foot-8 forward who played for the Atlanta Hawks.
