Ahanmisi in Blackwater’s radar

Blackwater has the ninth pick in the coming PBA draft and team governor Silliman Sy said yesterday the coaching staff, led by Leo Isaac, hopes to tap 6-2 guard Fil-Nigerian Maverick Ahanmisi of the University of Minnesota if he’s still available when the Elite takes its turn.

It would’ve been the top slot for Blackwater but that was traded to Talk ‘N’ Text for veteran Larry Rodriguez who, unfortunately, is in the injured list. The Elite also got the Texters’ first pick, No. 9, in the trade. No sense crying over spilt milk. Looking forward, the Elite has the No. 9 and No. 13 picks in the draft. Ahanmisi and former La Salle guard Almond Vosotros are on top of Blackwater’s wish list.

“Ahanmisi is now in the US but he’ll be back within the week,” said Sy. “The team owner of Café France, which he played for in the PBA D-League, vouched for his working habit and attitude. Our coaching staff has watched him play and we’re now weighing the probabilities of getting him as our first round choice. We expect him to play the two or three spot. He has a good outside shot. We’re also hoping to pick Vosotros.”

Sy said the target is a shooting guard. “We’ve got big guys like J. P. Erram, Jason Ballesteros, Frank Golla and Bryan Faundo so we’re hoping to land one or two shooting guards,” he said. “We’re sticking with our coaching staff to give us stability. Chito (Loyzaga) will remain a consultant but he’s not able to take too active a role because of his new position as NU athletic director.”

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Sy said the third conference was a letdown and that’s why Isaac recalled the team for practice only 10 days after Blackwater finished the season. The early regimen is a call to arms and so far, the Elite has played practice games with Adamson and NU. “We won three games in the Commissioner’s Cup and our goal was to win more than three in the Governors Cup,” said Sy. “As it turned, we won only once in the third conference. We thought Marcus (Douthit) would be a strong import for us. We brought in Marcus Cousin with four games left and we became more competitive. We tried to bring in an Asian import twice but things didn’t work out. Imad Qahwash had problems with his travel documents and Meralco beat us to Seiya Ando by a day. When we couldn’t get either Imad or Ando, it was too late to find somebody else because there were only a few games left.”

Blackwater initially flew in 7-foot Chris Charles to play in the Governors Cup but he wasn’t up to the challenge. “He’s underweight at 220 pounds because he’s so tall and he’s not able to bang,” said Sy. “He was complaining of injuries but our doctors cleared him to play. So we settled for Douthit. When Douthit had to play in the SEA Games, we took in Cousin. We all know the life of a team depends on its import. There were games when right in the first quarter, we didn’t see the effort from our import so it was hard for us to win.”

Sy said finishing with a 1-10 record in the Governors Cup was an embarrassment particularly as Blackwater enjoyed a championship tradition in the PBL and PBA D-League. “Our objective next season is to be competitive,” he said. “We hope to do better and win at least four games every conference. Our model is the Rain Or Shine franchise in the way they built their foundation through the draft. We’ve got a lot of expiring contracts by the end of the month and we’ll review which to renew. It will depend on whom we can get in the draft.”

In the offseason, Blackwater dealt Brian Heruela, who led the league in assists with a 5.2 clip, to Barako Bull for Carlo Lastimosa. “We wanted more consistency in the backcourt,” said Sy. “We’ve always like Carlo’s game. He’s fearless and we admire his fighting heart. He’s only 24. We want to bring in young blood and Carlo fits what we’re looking for in a player.”

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Lastimosa, however, is recovering from injury as he sat out Barako’s last four games in the Governors Cup. It’s not certain if he’ll suit up in Blackwater’s exhibition game with Rep. Mark Villar’s Las Piñas All-Stars at the Star Mall in Alabang at 3 this afternoon. The Las Piñas All-Stars will be bannered by PBA veterans Egay Billiones and Al Vergara. Others in the All-Stars lineup are Ronnie Zagala, PBA legend Jun Limpot’s son Zion, George Allen, Eric Gallardo, J. R. Solis, Richard Bautista, Mark Uson, Renault Luarca, Robert Hainga, Robin Villamayor, Jun Jun Alas and Teng Reyes with Federico Samson as coach.

Sy said the friendly game is an extension of Blackwater’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) program. “We were invited by Rep. Villar to participate in his anti-drug campaign through the basketball game,” said Sy. “It’s what we’ve always advocated – say no to drugs, say yes to sports. We’re very happy to be involved in Rep. Villar’s campaign. We welcome the opportunity to partner with local governments in our CSR efforts.”

Sy said Blackwater is out for redemption in the PBA. “We’re practicing hard now even if the next season won’t start until October,” he said. “We’ve also got a practice game with Athletes In Action. We want to stay sharp. No rest for us. Our first season was a disappointment. We want to do much better next season.”