BLACKWATER coach Ariel Vanguardia yesterday said his constantly re-tooling team is up for more transformation through the coming PBA Draft, whenever that may be.
“Pagdating ng draft mababago pa team na ito,” Vanguardia told Malaya-Business Insight yesterday.
“Sana mapasali ‘yung mga nasa listahan namin, lalo na ‘yung mga gustong-gusto namin,” adaded Vanguardia. “Sana.”
Last year’s draft was held in mid-March and the PBA initially planned on the same date to hold this year’s proceedings. But with the Governors’ Cup currently on hold due to the rise in COVID cases the draft may be held at a later date.
“Kasi sa pangyayari ngayon, kung magsisimula ulit tayo last week o first week ng Feb, aabutin tayo ng April—mga second week ng April. So, -ia-adjust natin,” Commissioner Willie Marcial said in last Tuesday’s PSA Forum.
“Baka last week ng April o first week ng May ang drafting natin,” added Marcial. “I-a-adjust natin kung papaano.”
In the meantime, Vanguardia related that management has taken care of negotiations with the players who have expired or expiring contracts.
“May one year, like Jayvee (Casio) and Baser (Amer), may two years, may six months, may hanggang end of the conference,” related Vanguardia.
“Okay na lahat, pati ‘yung bagong pick-up namin na si (John) Ambulodto. Dating practice player na iniakyat namin para sa import ng kalaban.”
Vanguardia also reiterated he doesn’t care when the draft will take place as long as it does.
Besides, he has ample reason to look forward to it.
Blackwater lost all its 11 games in the Philippine Cup and remains winless in five tries in the Governors Cup, stretching its winless streak since 2020 to a league-worst 24.
That record alone makes it very probable the Bossing would pick first overall in the Class of ’22. They also have other first round picks obtained from previous trades with San Miguel Beer and TNT, not to mention to second round rights, including the No. 13 overall.
Marcial said that due to the uncertainties surrounding the Governors Cup he has yet to allow the submission of applications for the draft. But it has been widely reported that Jason Brickman, Jeremiah Gray, and Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser would be headlining this year’s batch.
The trio applied for last year’s draft but were declared ineligible for failure to submit the necessary papers on time.
The PBA has also adopted a more relaxed stance regarding the inclusion of Fil-foreign players in the draft, which could entice more of them to try their luck and file their application when the time comes.
Vanguardia said Brickman, currently making waves as a starting guard for Kaohsiung in the upstart T1 League in Taiwan, is on his list but the coach’s priority is getting size, main reason why he would be opting for Rosser, who like Gray saw action in the PBA’s inaugural 3×3 tournament.
“Jason Brickman, kung aabutan ko iyan, no-brainer. Kaya lang hindi No. 1 kasi kailangan namin ng malaki,” explained Vanguardia, adding he has gotten good vibes when he asked around about Ganuelas-Rosser.
“Masipag, nag-improve na inside game and a fighter. Also very coachable. They only have good things to say about Rosser,” related Vanguardia. “Ang sabi ko, baka ayaw sa rebuilding team like us? Ang sagot daw, any team daw okay sa kanya. So maganda talaga attitude.”
