WILL their third year in the PBA prove to be a charm?
New Converge coach Dennis “Delta” Pineda hopes so—and the FiberXers certainly bolstered their title dreams by choosing ace playmaker Juan Gomez de Liano as their No. 2 pick overall in the recent rookie Draft.
“Iyong first pick namin, malaking tulong para sa Converge at alam naman natin ang experience ni Juan, talagang international na po iyong mga games na nalaruan niya, international league,” Pineda said. “So, it will be a big help sa Converge kasi alam ninyo naman, puro bata iyong players namin so makaka-add sa experience iyong bata na ito.
“Talagang si Juan po iyong target namin talaga. Kaya nakiusap po kami para sa trade sa Phoenix,” added the concurrent Pampanga Vice Governor.
The 6-foot Gomez de Liano will join forces with a Converge core that features Justine Baltazar, Justin Arana, Alec Stockton, and Schonny Winston.
With the season-opening Philippine Cup set to starft on Oct. 5 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, the FiberXers have linked up anew with multi-titled Serbian tactician Rajko Toroman as consultant, along with Djordje Jovicic.
Pineda is convinced these moves will only serve his wards in good stead.
“Still po, siyempre praying pa rin na talagang maging successful itong mga bata. Hopefully, mga three years na rin po kami sa league so, itong mga bata na unti-unti nagkakaroon na po ng experience,” Pineda said. “Nakikita na po kung gaano kahirap sa PBA. So, I think naman kung next season mag-mature na po mga players namin.
“Praying na sana umabot na kami ng semis. Para naman po medyo sumaya iyong mga fans ng Converge.”
The team also retained former interim strategist Franco Atienza.
“Tulong-tulong lahat. Walang mawawala. Tulong-tulong kaming lahat for the team. Isang magandang bagay sa team ko na puwede kong ipagmalaki ay maganda ang relationship namin,” he said. “Walang inggitan, wala. Ang focus namin is magtulungan for the team.”
