MANILA, Philippines - A varsity teammate of NBA star Blake Griffin is set to arrive in Manila today and report for duty as Meralco’s import in the PBA Governors Cup starting Sunday. Juan Pattillo, who played alongside Griffin with the University of Oklahoma Sooners in 2008-09, was signed up by the Bolts after early pick Devin Green measured over the height limit of 6-5 and last conference’s import Tim Pickett backed out after twisting his ankle in a pick-up game.
Green of Hampton University flew in last weekend with a doctor’s certification that he’s 6-5 even as record books show his height to be 6-7. “Unfortunately, when we had him measured using our PBA procedure, he was 6-6,” said Meralco coach Ryan Gregorio. “He took the next available flight back to the US.”
Green, 29, would’ve been a key addition to the Bolts roster. He played 27 games for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2005-06 and gained valuable experience as an import in Germany, Italy, Belgium and Bulgaria.
Pickett, 31, played only three games for Meralco in the last Governors Cup and limped off the lineup with an Achilles tendon tear. Gregorio wanted to give him another chance with Meralco particularly as the New Orleans Hornet’s second round pick in the 2004 NBA draft is coming off another scorching campaign in China.
“Pickett was supposed to arrive last Sunday,” said Gregorio. “Too bad, a day before he was to board the plane heading to Manila, he played a pick-up game and twisted his ankle. He sent me an e-mail saying he doesn’t want to come here and short-change us. We decided to get a new guy.” Last year, Pickett was kicked out of the Israeli league after he was charged with possession of marijuana.
Pattillo, 24, was recommended by Las Vegas-based import recruiter Bobby Rius. The 220-pound forward was a first team Junior College All-America pick with the College of Southern Idaho in 2007-08 when he averaged 17.4 points, 6.7 rebounds and 22 minutes to lead the varsity to a 30-2 record. Pattillo played a season at Oklahoma with Griffin, averaging 5.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and 13.4 minutes. When Griffin was out with a concussion, Pattillo stepped in to score 15 points in a game against Kansas. He had 14 points and 10 rebounds against Baylor but at the end of his first season with the Sooners, coach Jeff Capel took him out for violating team rules, presumably related to academics.
Pattillo redshirted in 2009-10 and came back to play for Western Kentucky University next season, averaging 13.7 points, 9.1 rebounds and 29.8 minutes. He signed up with Meralco from the Bakersfield Jam in the NBA D-League.
Meralco has yet to make it to the semifinals of a PBA conference but nearly made it in the recent Commissioner’s Cup, losing to eventual champion B-Meg, 2-1, in the best-of-three quarterfinals after blowing a 1-0 lead.
Gregorio tweaked his cast by bringing in Jay-R Reyes from Alaska in a trade with Gabby Espinas. “Jay-R is a welcome addition to us,” he said. “He has the height of a five-man and the quickness of a four-man. I expect him to play a bigger role in our team in terms of scoring, rebounding and defending. I’ll experiment playing him alongside Asi (Taulava). With him on board, we became taller and did not really sacrifice our quickness.”
Gregorio said the Bolts are healthy and raring to compete in the Governors Cup. “So far, we’re all healthy and looking forward to a better finish than our last two conferences where we were just good enough to land in the quarterfinals,” he said. Meralco’s nucleus of Mac-Mac Cardona, Sol Mercado, Chris Ross, Taulava, Paul Artadi, Mark Borboran, Reynel Hugnatan, Mark Macapagal, Yousif Aljamal, Mark Yee and Chris Timberlake is intact.
Meanwhile, Talk ‘N’ Text is scheduled to get together for its first practice with assistant coach Nash Racela calling the shots today. Head coach Chot Reyes will arrive from the US on Sunday. Players expected to attend today’s practice are import Paul Harris, Aaron Aban, Bambam Gamalinda, Rich Alvarez, Japeth Aguilar, Pamboy Raymundo and Gilbert Lao.
“We’ll likely open practice on Friday (today),” said team manager Aboy Castro who is also in the US. “Then, the regular players will be coming in a few days after. At this point, rest and medical treatment are the priority for the players in our regular rotation.”