Rico unavailable for Air 21

Air 21 coach Franz Pumaren said the other day he would’ve liked to add Rico Maierhofer to the Express roster but the gangling 6-6 forward’s rights were traded to Barako Bull along with Willy Wilson’s in a draft-day trade for the Energy Cola’s fourth overall pick.

More and more, Air 21 is looking greener than ever with Pumaren, a former La Salle coach, stocking up on former Green Archers. Maierhofer and Wilson played for La Salle like Pumaren himself. The Archers in the Air 21 lineup are RenRen Ritualo, Simon Atkins, Joseph Yeo, Carlo Sharma and MacMac Cardona. Pumaren’s assistants Tonichi Yturri and Cholo Villanueva also attended the Taft school.

“We wanted to bring Rico over,” said Pumaren during a break at the recent PBA Press Corps Awards Night at the Wack-Wack Golf and Country Club. “Unfortunately, his rights are with Barako and he’s not up for a trade.” In the draft, Air 21 picked Eric Camson of Adamson in the second round, former La Salle cager Joshua Webb in third, Angelo Ingco of San Beda in the fourth and Randolph Chua of St. Benilde in the fifth.

Webb, whose grandfather Freddie and uncle Jason played in the PBA, would’ve extended the family heritage to a third generation but wasn’t signed. Pumaren said there’s no room for Webb, Ingco or Chua in the team. The three are now free agents. “We’ve got 15 players signed up,” he continued. “We even had to let go of Pamboy Raymundo and BamBam Gamalinda who came in via the three-way trade with Talk ‘N’ Text and Meralco.”

Pumaren said the Express isn’t just loading up on La Salle stars but also UE mainstays like KG Canaleta, BonBon Custodio, Mark Borboran and Elmer Espiritu. Others in the Air 21 cast are Asi Taulava, Vic Manuel, Mike Burtscher, Wynne Arboleda, Ogie Menor and Camson.

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Globalport’s representative to the PBA Board of Governors Erick Arejola said newly appointed head coach Richie Ticzon’s performance will be evaluated after the coming Philippine Cup to determine whether or not to extend his contract. His staff will consist of Eric Gonzales, Mac Cuan, Johnedel Cardel, Romel Adducul, Bonnie Tan and Glenn Capacio.

The Batang Pier has undergone a major facelift, moving out Gary David, Yousef Taha, Chad Alonzo, A. J. Mandani, Willie Miller, JR Buensuceso, Alex Crisano and Bryan Faundo.  Moving in are veterans Leo Najorda, Jewel Ponferada, Eric Menk, Enrico Villanueva and five rookies R. R. Garcia, Terrence Romeo, Nico Salva, Justin Chua and LA Revilla. The holdovers are Jay Washington, Sol Mercado, Jondan Salvador, Mark Yee, Rudy Lingganay, Jaypee Belencion, Kelly Nabong and Marvin Hayes. The PBA allows a team to list 14 on the active roster and two reserves. At the moment, Globalport is one over the limit. Villanueva, who has been advised to undergo therapy, and Revilla will be on the reserve list.

“Enrico’s coming back from ACL surgery,” said Arejola. “He played briefly late in the season but he aggravated his injury. We don’t want to rush him. It might take another two months before he is reactivated. This will give a chance for Eric (Menk) to play more minutes. Eric’s in good shape, playing hard at practice. We want him to be in basketball shape when the season begins.”

The presence of Garcia and Romero in the backcourt is an exciting dimension to Globalport’s new look. Ticzon was on the FEU bench as Nash Racela’s assistant when Garcia and Romeo played for the Tamaraws so the familiarity will go a long way in stabilizing the Batang Pier’s backcourt.

“We’re looking forward to a turnaround season,” said Arejola. “In preseason games, we tied with Air 21, beat Alaska and lost to Talk ‘N’ Text. We’re determined to improve on our showing last season.” Global didn’t make the playoffs in the first and second conferences and in the Governors Cup, lost to Rain Or Shine by two with a twice-to-beat disadvantage in the quarterfinals. The Batang Pier won only one game in the Philippine Cup, two in the Commissioner’s Cup and four in the Governors Cup – the consolation is that progress is evident.

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Barangay Ginebra San Miguel guard L. A. Tenorio was surprised to be cited for the Order of Merit at the PBA Press Corps Awards Night. He went to the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club as part of the Gilas squad not expecting a separate honor.

Tenorio was one of 27 players chosen for 35 Player of the Week citations and garnered the most solo awards with three. San Mig Coffee’s James Yap also took three but shared one of them with Petron’s Alex Cabagnot. Tenorio joined Ginebra at the start of the season and didn’t miss a single game despite a gruelling grind with Gilas at the FIBA Asia Championships last August. He wound up averaging 14 points, five rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.4 steals in 52 games with Ginebra.