A SLEW of new imports is out to spoil the highly anticipated new chapter in what is turning out to be a riveting rivalry between Ginebra resident import Justin Brownlee and versatile TNT counterpart Rondae Hollis-Jefferson in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup set to get going on Nov. 5.
Thomas Robinson, tabbed No. 5 overall by the Sacramento Kings in the 2012 NBA Draft, makes his pro league debut as NLEX’s reinforcement.
Robinson was supposed to suit up for San Miguel Beer in the same tourney last year but was derailed by a back injury.
Thomas de Thaey of Belgium will see action for Terrafirma, Dajuan Summer for Rain or Shine, Tyler Stone for the Beermen, Phoenix will field Jonathan Williams, Magnolia has Tyler Bey, and Puerto Rican Chris Ortiz will ply his trade for Blackwater.
Like Robinson, De Thaey, Summers, Williams and Bey saw action in the NBA before bringing their acts overseas and finally here.
Stone, a journeyman, is coming off a stellar stint in Romania where he was named Import of the Year, All-Romanian Player of the Year, and Forward of the Year. Ortiz had a solid stint with Puerto Rico in the last FIBA World Cup in Manila before linking up with the Bossing.
New Zealand cager Tom Vodanovich will make his second tour of duty with Converge after a one-game appearance for the team as a replacement for Jamaal Franklin in the quarterfinals of the last Governors’ Cup.
Listed at 6-foot-7, Vodanovich notched 39 points and 10 rebounds in the FiberXers’ 105-121 loss to the twice-to-beat Beermen in the Last Eight.
But Brownlee’s coming stint for the Kings in the season-opening meet remains hanging in the air.
In a shocking turn of events, the 6-foot-5 naturalized Gilas Pilipinas star Brownlee last Friday failed a doping test during the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China where he starred in the team’s golden triumph.
The banned substance Carboxy-THC, which is linked to Cannabis use during his medication and recovery after undergoing surgery to remove bone spurs on his foot before his Asiad stint, was found in his urine sample.
He faces a two-year suspension from the World Anti-Doping Agency if his B sample confirms the first positive test, meaning With or without Brownlee, who led Ginebra to the Commissioner’s Cup crown last season with a 4-3 finals conquest of foreign guest team Bay Area, Kings coach Tim Cone and his charges are unfazed.
“That’s my baby. That’s really my focus right now, getting back at Ginebra,” Cone was quoted as saying on the pro league’s website. “I’m excited to be back with them and going to work. I haven’t worked for Ginebra for what, four or five months because of the Asian Games, the World Cup.
