Ito ang inihayag kahapon ni FedEx Express team manager Lito Alva-rez, presidente ng Air21 na nagmamay-ari ng Express franchise sa PBA, matapos ang isang heart-to-heart talk kay Pumaren.
"Management is thankful to Coach Pumaren for transforming the Express team into one of the forces to reckon with in the PBA. We are a young franchise, and yet, we have never been a league doormat. As a matter of fact, we finished strongly the past two conferences when we entered the semis and were just a game short of the finals," ani Alvarez.
Gayunpaman sinabi din ni Alvarez, na minsan ay taliwas sa nais nila ang coaching style ni Pumaren.
"We wanted kasi to get every player in the team be involved in the rotation, because when we hire people at Air21, we know that they are capable and will deliver for us. It’s the same with the players," ani Alvarez.
"We parted amicably, we are all professionals here. Coach Pumaren is a real gentleman, who accepted our decision with an open mind," dagdag pa ni Alvarez.
Babayaran pa rin ng FedEx management ang buong kontrata ni Puma-ren sa koponan.
Samantala, ikatlong sunod na panalo ang target ng Coca-Cola Tigers habang magsa-salang naman ng bagong import ang San Miguel Beer para makatikim ng panalo.
Ito ang mga senaryo sa dalawang larong nakatakda ngayon sa Sam-sung PBA Reinforced Conference na dadako ngayon sa Ynares Center sa Antipolo City.
Makakasagupa ng Tigers ang Shell Velocity sa alas-5:00 ng hapon habang tampok na laro naman ang laban ng magkapatid na kumpan-yang San Miguel at Purefoods sa alas-7:30 ng gabi.
Para makaiwas sa posibleng 0-3 start, pinauwi na ng San Miguel si Shea Seals na nagkaroon ng hamstring injury na papalitan naman ng di kilalang si Eric Dailey.