Dating porma ibabalik ng Welcoat

Umaasa ang defending champion Welcoat Paints na maibalik ang dating porma para sa kanilang kampanya sa pagpapanatili ng korona sa pagbubukas ng 2001 PBL Chairman’s Cup sa Sabado sa Makati Coliseum.

Bagamat ang Paint Masters ay pareho rin ang intact line-up, nagsagawa pa rin si coach Junel Baculi ng mga objectives at adjustments upang manumbalik sa top spot bilang No. 1 team sa PBL.

"You could say it’s rebirth of sort for Welcoat because we have to start all over again. After last season, we’ve assessed our performance and we saw clear signs that we have to institute changes in the team," wika pa ni Baculi.

"We still have the veterans like Yancy de Ocampo, Jojo Manalo, Eugene Tan, Allen Patrimonio and of course Ren-Ren Ritualo who’s expected to play a bigger role for the team," dagdag pa ni Baculi.

Sa kabila ng pagkawala ni Anton Villoria na umakyat na sa PBA, nakakuha rin ang Welcoat ng gaya ng kanyang talento sa katauhan ni Brixter Encarnacion, dating manlalaro ng Chowking Fastfood King na mahusay sa perimeter shooting at may magandang defensive strategy.

Pinapirma rin ni Baculi sina Melvin Mamaclay at Michael Tolentino upang sumuporta kay de Ocampo sa post.

"Sa pagpasok ng tatlong ito, medyo nag-iba ang complex ng team, from tough to toughers. Mas lumakas ang team offense-wise and defensive-wise."

"I was really surprised at Brixter, he could shoot five to seven straight triples and can easily shift from offense to defense. He’s slowly getting back in shape. Likewise, malaking advantage sa amin si Mamaclay at Tolentino dahil sa kanilang perimeter shooting," dagdag pa ni Baculi.

Ang iba pang manlalaro na nasa magandang kundisyon ay sina Ryan Pamintuan, habang si Rene Suba naman ang siyang pupuno sa pagka-wala ni Celino Cruz na may--roong fractured sa kanang daliri.

Ang iba pang kukumpleto sa line-up ng koponan ay sina Frederick Canlas, Jerome Reyes at Rey Tuble.

"Definitely, we’ll try to come back. We do not discount the possibility that Shark or any other team going for the title. As I’ve said, the toughest rival dito ay ang aming sarili and it showed in the last championship. This season, we’d like to put that attitude to trash and do our best to regain the tag as PBL’s No. 1 team," dagdag pa ni Baculi.