ANTIPOLO — Is George King the answer?
San Miguel sure hopes so. The traditional powerhouse will test out that theory when they commence their PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup campaign against guest team Macau later tonight at the Ynares Center here.
Game time is at 7:30 PM, with the Beermen looking to get off on the right foot this time after starting out flat during the first two conferences this season. They went 0-2 to open the Philippine Cup, and then 1-2 in the Commissioner’s Cup.
That up-and-down start to the midseason tourney was due to their import woes, a problem that lasted all throughout the tilt and took its toll on them when they bombed out of the quarterfinals versus Rain or Shine.
In fact, they switched reinforcements twice and ended up with naturalization candidate Bennie Boatwright in a bid to lean on familiarity. However, their championship experience together wasn’t enough to save their campaign.
Now they have brought in King, a super scorer who provides a shot in the arm, specifically in the wing position — he proved his worth with Blackwater last year, highlighted by a 64-point outing in a win against the Elasto Painters.
But of course, many want to see in person how he finds his niche with this stacked team, which features other potent scorers led by nine-time MVP June Mar Fajardo and CJ Perez.
Then there’s also the intriguing Jerrick Ahanmisi, who will make his debut later together with Paolo Hernandez. The two were traded by Terrafirma in exchange for guard Juami Tiongson and the seldom-used Chris Miller last June,
It could be a match made in heaven, too, as both camps have been hoping to strike success in this very conference — King aims for a breakthrough playoff appearance, while SMB hopes to end an 11-year title drought.
And they all could start working on their dreams collectively against the Giant Pandas, who’ve shown little improvement from their maiden campaign last Commissioner’s Cup after getting blasted by Jimmy Alapag’s NLEX, 114-75.
The Road Warriors have since gone 2-0 since that impressive debut, and they will try to make it three in a row when the Group A leaders take on another doormat team in Titan Ultra in the 5:15 PM double-header opener.
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Robert Bolick and his squad, though, are coming in a wary bunch. They nearly collapsed against Terrafirma the last time out in Montalban, in which they blew a 23-point lead but were lucky enough to escape with the 101-100 result.
They won’t want that to happen against the Giant Risers, who hope to barge into the win column after losing to the Dyip and then to Converge, in which they suffered a humiliating 105-74 loss.
Both those losses were mainly because the team didn’t have an import available. But there’s renewed hope with the arrival of Tirrell Brown, who’s been cleared to play and is therefore eligible to suit up later.
