MANILA, Philippines - The celebrated San Miguel Beer squad finally makes its PBA comeback tonight with a souped-up roster under a new coaching system as the Beermen take on the Meralco Bolts in Day Two of the mid-season Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Junemar Fajardo and his teammates, including transferees Sol Mercado and Rico Maierhofer and import Josh Boone, play their first game under coaches Todd Purves and Biboy Ravanes versus the Bolts at 5:45 p.m.
Meanwhile, Barangay Ginebra, after narrowly missing the Philippine Cup finals, plunges back into action versus Barako Bull at 8 p.m.
The Beermen, fourth placers in the recent Philippine Cup, are heavily favored against the Bolts.
For one, Boone carries better credentials than Meralco counterpart Brian Butch.
Boone was a starting player with the New Jersey Nets for a season while Butch hooked up with the Denver Nuggets but failed to play a single game.
“We want to test our pre-conference preparations right away. It is a souped-up San Miguel Beermen. They made changes in their roster while we stayed with our core,†said Meralco coach Ryan Gregorio.
The Kings, meanwhile, unveil import Leon Rodgers versus the Energy Cola and import Joshua Dollard.
Ginebra brought in Rodgers after a thorough review of what went wrong with the team in the Philippine Cup.
The Kings opted not to sacrifice the spots and playing minutes of Twin Towers Japeth Aguilar and Greg Slaughter, deciding to instead boost their wing firepower.
Rodgers, a Columbus, Ohio native who played college ball for Northern Illinois, is reputed to be a flat-out shooter who once drained 15 three-pointers in a game in the Chinese league.
He’s fresh from a stint with the Jilin Northeast Tigers in the Chinese Basketball Association where he wound up among the scoring leaders.
“Ginebra is a strong team with a good import. We’ll try to keep the game close and do adjustments when necessary so we can have a chance for an upset,†said Barako Bull coach Bong Ramos.
Rodgers and Dollard are the smallest in the current crop of PBA imports.
Rodgers was measured at 6-foot-5 ½ while Dollard is listed at 6-7.
Barako Bull settled with the undersized but versatile Dollard after original choice Dwayne Chism failed to get his release from the Hungarian basketball league.
In practices, Dollard, a veteran international player with stints in Turkey, Czech Republic and Finland, has made an impression as a player who can score in so many ways.
Barako Bull, sixth placer in the Philippine Cup, also returns with Jason Deutchman and Leo Najorda playimg in place of Maierhofer and Jonas Villanueva.