Intact Sta. Lucia opts for solid Rock

The Sta. Lucia management and coaching staff decided to replace their import even before the Realtors played their first game in the PBA Fiesta Cup against the Air21 Express Wednesday, signing up Rock Winston to take over from Kris Smith.

Winston, a former San Jose Skyrocket in the American Basketball Association, arrived from the United States yesterday morning and immediately made a good impression in practice in the afternoon.

Sta. Lucia assistant coach Adonis Tierra likened Winston to former best import awardee Artemus McClary, who played for Talk n Text, Coca Cola and Alaska.

"He’s a bit small at 6-3 1/2 but certainly much better than Smith," said Tierra.

With an intact lineup, Sta. Lucia is among the teams tipped to make good in the import-laced tournament beginning tomorrow at the Astrodome.

The Realtors themselves are upbeat especially with team captain Dennis Espino having recovered from a recent surgery.

Espino, with kidney stone problems, went under the knife after the All Filipino Cup elims.

"Everybody is healthy and the boys are responding well to our new coach," said Tierra of the team, now under coach Boyet Fernandez, who took over from Alfrancis Chua.

The team remained intact with prized rookie Fil-Am Kelly Williams failing to make it to the national team.

Meanwhile, all ball clubs opted to tap free agents to take the place of their national players.

Talk n Text reactivated rookie free agent Jonathan Aldave and Abby Santos and re-hired Jonathan de Guzman; Red Bull tapped Mike Hrabak, San Miguel picked Brandon Cablay and Francis Adriano, Ginebra reactivated Rodney Santos and is considering tapping the services of Egay Echavez and Paolo Hubalde. Air 21 has no intention of looking for a replacement for Ranidel de Ocampo and opted to play with just a 12-man lineup, counting its import.