MANILA — Purefoods Star pulls off a big surprise less than a week before the PBA Commissioner’s Cup fires off on January 27. The defending champion Hotshots have enlisted the services of former NBA player Daniel Orton, although ex-Best Import Marqus Blakely has been practicing with the team since last week. Orton, who played a total of 55 NBA games while with Orlando Magic, Oklahoma City Thunder and Philadelphia 76ers, is about to wrap up his stint in China by February 1. “We will be using Marqus for about two games. The problem is kung maganda ang ilaro ni Blakely ngayong conference. Pero good problem sa amin yun,” said Purefoods team governor Rene Pardo. Crowd darling Brgy. Ginebra has acquired returnee Michael Dunigan, a monster scorer and rebounder while playing for the now defunct Air21 Express in the 2013 Commissioner’s Cup. Like Ginebra, Talk ‘N Text has called back another returnee in Richard Howell who almost led the Texters’ to the Commissioner’s Cup title last season where he was adjudged Best Import. Among the newcomers, NLEX import Al Thornton has the most impressive credentials as he was picked 14th overall by the Los Angeles Clippers during the 2007 Rookie Draft. The 31-year-old Thornton played for the Clippers, the Washington Wizards and the Golden State Warriors in a six-year NBA campaign where he averaged 11.9 points and 4.2 rebounds. Rain or Shine, meanwhile, has settled with former Syracuse standout Rick Jackson who is scheduled to plane in on January 23. The Elasto Painters wanted to bring back old hand Wayne Chism who was also eager to return but was prevented by his team in Israel, where he is under contract until March. GlobalPort’s original import Rod Benson failed to make the six-foot-nine limit and will instead parade North Carolina alum CJ Leslie, who last played in Korea. For being the Philippine Cup’s cellar-dweller teams, Barako Bull, Blackwater Elite and KIA Sorento were given a concession of getting imports with unlimited height. KIA will be parading seven-foot-four Puerto Rican PJ Ramos, Blackwater has signed up seven-foot-one Chris Charles while Barako has tapped seven-foot-one Nigerian Solomon Alabi. Meantime, current finalist Alaska will be reinforced by unknown DJ Covington after failing to bring back Rob Dozier, who was unsuccessful in trying to get a release from his ballclub in Dubai. San Miguel, on the other hand, is negotiating with NBA D-League campaigner Arinze Onuaku while Meralco Bolts coach Norman Black is still in the United States scouting for an import after they got beaten to the draw by Ginebra in their attempt to sign Dunigan. — Rivals 2015 rivals.ph/basketball/pba/2015/01/21/21260/surprise-purefoods-signs-new-import-commissioners-cup/#.VL9HAt6EIjE.twitter
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 06:37:57 +0000
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