by Dave Albarado
Can a change of import bring better results for Blackwater?
Blackwater Bossing is about to bring in a new import in a bid to turn its fortunes around in the current Governor’s Cup tournament of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
The team is looking at tapping Shawn Glover for the team’s next game on Jan. 5, 2022. Glover just finished his stint in the Iceland basketball league. Glover’s contract in Iceland is open so he can hop in to join Blackwater anytime, the team’s coach Ariel Vanguardia said in an interview with Spin.ph.
The said import is in the process of securing his work visa in order to be eligible to play for Blackwater.
“He will be ready to play next year,” Vanguardia said.
Blackwater Bossing will be facing the Magnolia Hotshots on Jan. 5, 2021, the team’s first game in 2022.
Glover is going to replace Jaylen Bond who was limited to just 2 points in a loss to the Alaska Aces on Dec. 21, 2021. The loss was the 26th straight loss of Blackwater
However, Bond will be asked to stay as a back up to Glover in case the latter does not live up to expectations or gets injured.
Of course, Blackwater is hitting the panic button. It is desperate to win at all costs including replacing its import and put in new life into the franchise which is yet to see a winning season or even make the playoffs.
In a related development, there are reports that Brandon Brown of San Miguel Beer is on his way out. It seems the Beermen need an upgrade as their import is not performing well to expectations.
According to reports, Orlando Johnson a former journeyman in the NBA could be the Beermen’s next import, that is if the team decides to make the switch.
Brown is actually performing well considering his average points per outing pegged at 23.5 points and 13 rebounds to boot.
However, the Beermen is at 50% with a 2-2 win-loss card. The Beermen’s performance is below par considering the amount of resources and the number of superstars the team has. You are looking at a team with scorers like Terrence Romeo, CJ Perez, and Junemar Fajardo etc.
I don’t think SMC sports director Alfranchis Chua is writing all these zeroes on people’s paychecks only to get back an average performance on his investment.
No disrespect to Brown but Johnson is an upgrade.
A veteran of 103 NBA games, the 6-foot-5, 220-pound Johnson has an established international career that saw him play for Brisbane of the Australian NBL in the 2020-2021 season.
In his 12-game stint with Ginebra in 2015, the 32-year old Johnson averaged 33.7 points and 11.3 rebounds.