WITH Fil-Canadian gunner Matthew Wright gone, Phoenix is out to prove there is life without its ace wingman.
Fuel Masters coach Topex Robinson said his charges are ready to rise to the challenge in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup kicking off on Sept. 21.
“It’s something that we anticipated and even during the last conference we were already moving forward without Matt, and he knows that. He said he would slowly pass the torch to whoever is ready for it,” Robinson said.
“We have guys that are also excited to have that opportunity like Aljun Melecio, Tyler Tio, and Javee Mocon. There’s a lot of opportunities for us,” he added.
The 6-foot-4 Wright opted to bring his act to the Japan B. League, signing up with Kyoto after his three-year contract with the Dennis Uy-owned ballclub expired last month.
There’s no crying over spilt milk after Wright’s departure, according to Robinson.
“This move by Matt wasn’t a surprise to us. Last year pa nagpaalam na siya na he’s gonna look at the free agency and up to the last minute he was there for us,” Robinson said.
“He committed in the last conference, with everything that was happening, he informed management that he’s gonna play his last conference with us. Again, we are happy for him.
He will always be a part of us.”
Phoenix is set to field 6-foot-10 Kaleb Wesson as its reinforcement in the mid-season tourney.
Robinson is convinced Wesson, 23, has what it takes.
“Kaleb is a young guy. He’s 23 years old. He played at Ohio State. We had a lot of choices, but we opted to go with him because of what we could bring to us,” Robinson said. “We want an import who could fit in with our system and I think Kaleb is the guy who could help us with this conference.”
A blue-chip recruit in high school, Wesson suited up for Ohio State in the United States NCAA division I but went undrafted in the NBA two years ago.
Wesson went on to see action for the Santa Cruz Warriors and the Hapoel Gilboa Galil and Maccabi Rishon LeZion in Israel.
Aside from Wesson, among the first-time imports in Asia’s first play-for-pay league are Thomas Robinson of defending champion San Miguel Beer, TNT’s Cameron Oliver, Johnny O’Bryant III of Meralco, Magnolia’s Nick Rakocevic, Earl Clark of NLEX, Converge’s Quincy Miller, Cameron Krutwig of Blackwater, Rain or Shine’s Daniel Ochefu, and Andrew Nicholson of guest team Bay Area.
