BARANGAY Ginebra San Miguel’s return to run-and-gun game could be the style that really fits the Kings who take on the Meralco Bolts at the start of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup on Tuesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
After seeing their experiment with the complicated triangle offense fail for two conferences with Jeffrey Cariaso, Ginebra brought in Ato Agustin back on bench for the midseason conference.
Agustin and Ginebra battle Meralco in the main game at 7 p.m. right after the opening tussle between Kia and GlobalPort at 4:15 p.m.
The Kings are parading former Air21 import Michael Dunigan, who was also courted by the Bolts for the tournament.
But the 6-foot-8 Dunigan opted to sign with the most popular ball club and will be pitted against Josh Davis, who is said to be a prototype of San Antonio Spurs forward and last season’s Finals Most Valuable Player Kahwi Leonard.
Familiarity-wise, the 25-year-old Dunigan has the advantage as the former University of Oregon standout suited up for the Express and averaged 23.9 points, 15.4 rebounds and 2.4 blocks in leading Air21 to a quarterfinal finish.
Agustin said Dunigan will give the Kings versatility at the frontcourt and will tremendously help Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar in the shade.
Meralco, on the other hand, lacks the big men who could match up with the 7-foot Slaughter and 6-foot-9 Aguilar but Head Coach Norman Black believes Davis, a product of San Diego State University, is the answer.
“Our import has practiced with the team for four days and is starting to fit in with the locals. We will be undersized again because Davis is only 6-foot-7,” said Black, whose Bolts reached the quarterfinals of the Philippine Cup.
“Our main concerns against Ginebra is our interior defense and our ability to garb those defensive rebounds,” he added.
Sorento, meanwhile, will parade the tallest import in the conference—Peter John Ramos, the former Puerto Rico national team center who stands 7-foot-4.
Kia finished at the bottom three of the previous tournament, allowing them to field in an import with an unlimited height.
The Manny Pacquiao-coached squad grabbed the opportunity and signed the Puerto Rican giant who had a brief stint in the National Basketball Association with the Washington Wizards in 2004.
Ramos will be up against 6-foot-9 CJ Leslie, a high-school teammate of Wizards star John Wall. The 23-year-old Leslie was actually Batang Pier’s choice.
Leslie does not seem to be a bad choice as the ex-North Carolina State standout was selected in the 2013 All-Rookie Team of the National Basketball Association Developmental League while playing for Erie BayHawks.
GlobalPort also has a new player in Dennis Miranda, who was acquired from Barako Bull in a trade with Solomon Mercado.