Win some, lose some

Meralco team manager Paolo Trillo said yesterday the hunt for imports in the PBA is a harrowing process and a back-up plan is critical in surviving the race. It’s like a version of the Hunger Games where the pro league’s 12 teams slug it out for the best available players to recruit as imports.

In the Commissioner’s Cup that got underway last Tuesday, the top eight Philippine Cup finishers are allowed to sign up an import with a height limit of 6-9. There is no height restriction for imports of the last four placers.

The PBA itself conducts the measurement of the imports. So far, nine imports have been sized up – 6-8 1/4 Michael Dunigan of Barangay Ginebra, 6-11 9/16 Chris Charles of Blackwater, 6-6 15/16 Josh Davis of Meralco, 6-8 C. J. Leslie of Globalport, 6-4 5/16 Marqus Blakely of Purefoods, 6-8 1/16 Rick Jackson of Rain Or Shine, 7-2 3/4 Peter John Ramos of Kia, 7-0 1/2 Solomon Alabi of Barako Bull and 6-6 15/16 Richard Howell of Talk ‘N’ Text. Scheduled for measurement today are Alaska’s D. J. Covington and NLEX’ Al Thornton.

San Miguel Beer import Ronald Roberts of St. Joseph’s University is scheduled to plane in tomorrow. The 6-8 forward is coming fresh from averaging 29.5 points, 13.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists in two games with the Santa Cruz Warriors in the NBA D-League. Roberts’ parents are former basketball players who met while they were imports in Portugal. His father Ronald Sr. is now employed as a hospital security guard in New Jersey. His mother Dania is from the Dominican Republic and works as an accountant. Roberts is one of six children.

San Miguel initially tried to bring in Arinze Onuaku of Syracuse University but the 6-9 forward, who played briefly for Cleveland New Orleans in the NBA last season, held off to wait for NBA offers. A back-up Eric Griffin was supposed to arrive instead but he, too, withdrew at the last minute. Offer sheets had been sent to Onuaku and Griffin by San Miguel. Roberts, 23, may turn out to be a late blessing for San Miguel.

Trillo said in recruiting imports, it’s often a case of “you win some, you lose some.” He said the Bolts’ first choice was Dunigan who played for Air21 two seasons back. Dunigan attended Farragut Academy, the same high school that produced Kevin Garnett and former PBA import Ronnie Fields, then played two years with the University of Oregon varsity. He was sensational in the 2013 Commissioner’s Cup, averaging 23.9 points, 15.4 rebounds and 2.4 blocked shots.

“We contacted Michael and his agent (Mike Naiditch) over a month ago,” said Trillo. “Coach Norman (Black) and I flew to Santa Cruz for the NBA D-League Showcase where we hoped to sign up Michael and scout for an import for the Governors Cup. It was a tiring trip. First, our flight got delayed because the airport was cleared for Pope Francis’ arrival. We ended up leaving after midnight and we missed the first day of games of the D-League as a result. We were able to watch the rest of the games and left the day after the tournament ended. Michael was our first option and we thought it was just a matter of signing the contract.”

Trillo and Black met with Dunigan and Naiditch for dinner to discuss terms during a break in the Showcase. “When we initially contacted Michael, Ginebra still wasn’t in the picture,” said Trillo. “Michael asked if he could play in the Showcase then decide. He also asked if we could put a clause in his contract that in case he received a call-up from the NBA, we would release him. Michael was transparent with us the whole way. When we met for dinner, he told us Ginebra was now in the picture. So we agreed on a deadline for Michael to decide. We had a short list of five to six players so if Michael decided to go with Ginebra or elsewhere, we could go after somebody else.”

Dunigan later informed Trillo of his decision to sign with Ginebra. “We respect Michael’s decision,” said Trillo. “At first, we thought he would sign with us. But I guess he had a change of heart. It’s difficult trying to sign up imports because other teams in the PBA are looking at the same players then there are other leagues in the world to contend with. Luckily, we were able to come to terms with Josh.”

Trillo said Purefoods coach Tim Cone was also at the Showcase. “We sat in the same section but at arm’s length,” he said. “We weren’t comparing notes.” Former PBA consultant and TV broadcaster Jim Kelly, now an international scout with the Dallas Mavericks, was in the Showcase, too. Trillo said in last year’s Showcase, Sean Chambers scouted for Alaska.

Last Tuesday, Meralco and Ginebra faced off in their first game of the conference. “We didn’t want to focus on Michael being our first option,” said Trillo. “But we spoke with Josh. We wanted to be honest with him. We admitted that we initially tried to get Michael. He understood the situation. What we like about Josh is he’s relentless, his motor is incredible. He’s like Cliff Hodge. He doesn’t stop working hard. His teammates like him, they all get along.”

In their Commissioner’s Cup debut, the Bolts defeated Ginebra, 85-74. Davis collected 25 points and 24 rebounds in 39:03 minutes while Dunigan had 17 points and 14 boards in 38:19. Trillo said Naiditch sent an email after the game. “Mike congratulated us for the win and called Josh a solid fit for us unless he falls in love with his jumpshot,” he said. “Mike observed how we outworked Ginebra and how we kept the pressure on defense. That’s basically how we plan to win games, by outworking the other teams. So Josh fits into what we’re doing.” Naiditch is the same Chicago agent for Thabo Sefolosha of the Atlanta Hawks, Greg Stiemsma of the Toronto Raptors and Jannero Pargo of the Charlotte Hornets.      

Trillo said he now has a list of candidate imports for the Governors Cup. One list is for a 6-5 import as the top eight Commissioner’s Cup placers will be allowed that height limit (there will still be no restriction for imports of the last four finishers) and another list is for the 6-3 Asian import.  “No names for the moment since nobody has signed up,” he said. “We’ll keep the names quiet because we know other teams are also looking around. In this exercise, you can’t be without a back-up plan.”

In Meralco’s case, the back-up plan for the Commissioner’s Cup turned out to be the better option.