Jimwell begs for understanding

It won’t be for at least four months before Tora-Tora is cleared to fly again–if at all. For the moment, Red Bull guard Jimwell Torion is grounded in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). It’s an indefinite suspension for shabu use and PBA commissioner Noli Eala said his case won’t be up for reevaluation until after the Asian Invitationals in September.

Last Sunday, I met Torion for dinner at the Bistro Lorenzo in Greenhills. Torion’s agent Danny Espiritu arranged the meeting after getting the go-signal from Thunder team manager Tony Chua and coach Yeng Guiao.

Torion, 28, is in his fourth year at Red Bull. As a rookie, he averaged 12.9 points and was the Thunder’s second leading local scorer behind DaVonn Harp. Torion started in only 13 of 34 games but logged 26 minutes an outing, proof of Guiao’s confidence in his ability. The next year, he averaged 9.0 points and ranked fourth in the league in three.

Meanwhile, the PBA Board of Governors is set to meet on Monday to discuss the fate of its television coveror NBN-4 and IBC-13.

The NBN/IBC consortium found itself in a bind once again when it reportedly failed to meet its side of the deal with Manila Bank regarding the "Letter of Credit" which was part of the requirements for the league’s TV coverage pact.

If NBN/IBC fails to come up with a new LC, the board may be forced to take over the coverage, making its own production and reducing the role of NBN and IBC to mere carrying stations.