Vargas laments lack of chemistry

OKINAWA – PBA chairman Ricky Vargas couldn’t bear to watch how San Miguel Beer and TNT were trounced in the five-day, 10-game, eight-team EASL Champions Week that ended here yesterday. The Beermen and Tropa failed to win a single outing in two contests each with blowout losses staining their reputation as the top two finishers in the last Philippine Cup.

Vargas said the problem wasn’t the availability of imports although in TNT’s case, he mused that if only Rondae Hollis-Jefferson played, it could’ve been a different outcome. “It’s chemistry not availability,” said Vargas. “Both TNT and San Miguel brought in their second imports about a week before the competition started so there was clearly lack of practice time to get everyone familiar with each other. We’re just not used to playing with two imports.”

Because EASL’s format allows teams to enlist two imports plus an Asian heritage player, San Miguel and TNT signed up a second reinforcement to team up with their recruits for the Governors’ Cup. In San Miguel’s case, the Beermen picked former Georgetown center Jessie Govan to pair with Cameron Clark. In TNT’s case, the Tropa took in Daniel Ochefu to join Jalen Hudson. Hollis-Jefferson made the trip here with TNT on a tourist pass as he couldn’t secure a working visa in time to play in the Champions Week.

Vargas said with EASL’s inaugural home-and-away season opening in October, the PBA will be hard-pressed to recruit two imports because the first conference is the Philippine Cup. It’s still not certain if the second conference will be the Commissioner’s Cup where the import height limit is under 6-10 or the Governors Cup’ where the ceiling is under 6-6. The PBA will play only two conferences next season. “Our draft will be in September and we begin the Philippine Cup in October,” he said. “The Philippine Cup is our showcase for rookies and it’s what fans look forward to.” EASL will kick off its season with eight teams playing six games each, three home and three away, from October to February then the top four placers will advance to the knockout semifinals and final in March. The games in the eliminations will be played on Wednesdays.

“We’ll figure it out,” said Vargas. “Wednesday is a PBA playing day so we’ll work it in our schedule. We’ll also tackle the import issue.” In the Champions Week, the PBA teams found no chemistry playing with two imports while the Korean, Japanese and Greater China squads worked fluidly.