Big men woes for Phoenix injury hounds pascual, marcelo

MANILA, Philippines — “Big men problems” continue to hound PBA teams ahead of the Philippine Cup kickoff on March 8.

After San Miguel Beer lost “Alpha Center” June Mar Fajardo to a shin injury and Barangay Ginebra lost Greg Slaughter to a self-imposed sabbatical, it’s the turn of Phoenix Pulse to get hit by frontline woes.

The Fuel Masters saw their frontcourt depleted just weeks before the all-Filipino with new acquisition Jake Pascual going down on an ACL tear and burly center Dave Marcelo sidelined by bone spurs.

With veteran Doug Kramer now retired, coach Louie Alas’ squad is left with a big men roster led by slotman Justin Chua and forward Jason Perkins.

“We’re still figuring out (how to deal with it),” Alas told The STAR yesterday.

The Fuel Masters are also hoping Calvin Abueva, the controversial player who’s been serving indefinite suspension since the 2018 Commissioner’s Cup, will eventually be reinstated this season.

Fajardo is out of action for SMB indefinitely after fracturing his right tibia while Slaughter decided to take a break after his contract with Ginebra lapsed.

Slaughter debunked talks his sabbatical was due to Ginebra’s refusal to grant his alleged demands for contract renewal and his supposed fears of being traded.

“I never received any contract offer. It’s unfair to say I made demands when there was no offer,” he posted on Twitter, in apparent response to what he claimed was “inaccurate theories going around about my decision.”

“I was never aware of any trade,” he also said in reply to murmurs Ginebra is ready to ship him to get NorthPort’s Christian Standhardinger.

Meanwhile, NLEX’ Poy Erram, the PBA’s top shot block artist last season with a 2.1 average, is reportedly being eyed by the TNT KaTropa via a trade with a conduit and sister team Road Warriors to plug a hole in the middle.

Asked for comment during a recent Gilas practice, TNT consultant Mark Dickel said: “I cannot comment on anything that I don’t know to be 100 percent factual. That’s all I say.”

Dickel, whose KaTropa team is in need of a quality big to join forces with Yousef Taha, David Semerad, Jay Washington and Kelly Williams, admitted the 6-foot-8 Erram would  be an asset for TNT, if ever.

“However,” Dickel said, then pausing, “I’ll say when I know it’s for sure. It would be great, no question.”

Erram is part of the the Gilas pool that Dickel is preparing for the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers game against Indonesia on Feb. 23.