Helterbrand out; Billy in for P7-M

If Jayjay Helterbrand was bluffing, the gambit didn’t work for the Fil-Am pointguard as he was eventually released by Barangay Ginebra in favor of Elmer Lago.

Billy Mamaril and Marlon Legaspi, meanwhile, finally signed with Purefoods and San Miguel Beer, respectively, realizing they could no longer bargain for better deals in the frantic pre-season buildup among the 10 competing teams.

At Shell, Adonis Sta. Maria became the third draftee signed to a multi-million (P5.4 million) pact after Eddie Laure and Ronald Tubid.

In another development, Talk N Text formally acquired the services of veteran slotman Long David from Sta. Lucia as the two ballclubs agreed to share obligations on contract of the player who is receiving more than P300,000 a month.

Ginebra coach Allan Caidic said they have completed their roster for the coming 2003 PBA wars after giving to Lago the playing contract turned down by Helterbrand.

Caidic reactivated Lago from the free agent pool as Helterbrand stood firm on his decision to return to the United States rather than agree on a pay cut with the Kings.

"May problema kami sa salary cap so we could not afford to offer him a better contract than what we had offered. Up to last Saturday, he was saying he’ll just go home kung ganoon lang ang offer namin," said Caidic.

The deal offered Helterbrand reportedly involved only a little over P100,000 a month.

With Helterbrand gone, tapped to play the pointguard position for Ginebra are old mainstay Bal David and amateur draftee Rob Johnson, who was signed to a one-year pact Monday.

Mamaril, the No. 6 pick overall in the recent draft, inked a three-year deal reportedly worth around P7.5 million for Purefoods while Legaspi, the No. 8 pick, settled for a two-year P2.6-million pact with San Miguel. Second round draftee Arnold Calo got a one-year deal also with SMB.

"He realized we couldn’t afford to give him more dahil kung ano ang matitira sa kanya yun ang ibibigay naman sa contract-renewals of players who have been with us for quite sometime now," said Purefoods team manager Rene Pardo of Mamaril who earlier bargained for a P9-million deal in three years.

With Mamaril finally in, Pardo said they will now close deals with veterans Richard Yee and Boyet Fernandez.

Actually, Yee won’t be back in action until April as he is still undergoing rehabilitation on his ankle surgery last year. Pardo said they will likely sign up a free agent in a short-term deal while Yee is in the injured list. Among the players still trying out in the team are Ronald Magtulis, Rob Wainwright and Kelani Ferreira.

With these developments, Ronnie Magsanoc finally decided to retire and concentrate on assisting head coach Eric Altamirano on the Purefoods bench.

A member of the star-studded Batch ’88 of the annual draft, Magsanoc made it to the Mythical First Five once, the Mythical Second Team thrice and was one of the best 25 players honored during the league’s silver anniversary celebration three years ago.

Dindo Pumaren, a member of Batch ’89, was the first prominent player to announce his retirement this off-season. He is set to leave for the United States next week to attend coaching internship in several NCAA Division I schools, including Cal Sate Long Beach, UCLA and University of Southern California.