Purefoods center Adducul diagnosed with cancer
Giants get Villanueva for Pingris
By Musong R. Castillo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 03:30:00 03/27/2008
MANILA, Philippines—Purefoods center Romel Adducul will not be able to play in the coming PBA Fiesta Cup as he has been diagnosed with stage 2 nasal pharynx cancer.
Left with no choice but to look for a legitimate center, the Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants coaching staff and management had to part ways with versatile big man Marc Pingris on Wednesday to get a replacement for the burly Adducul.
Purefoods dealt away Pingris to Coca-Cola for a song to land Enrico Villanueva from Magnolia in a trade that also involved Barangay Ginebra.
“In my 10 years in the PBA, this is one of the hardest, most difficult decisions I have ever had to make,” said Purefoods governor Rene Pardo, a godfather of Pingris and wife Danica Sotto during their highly publicized wedding two years ago. “Obviously, Ping (Pingris) was disappointed. And it (the trade) was done with a heavy heart.”
The need to deal the high-leaping 6-foot-6 center-forward came when Adducul, the only legitimate pure center in the Purefoods lineup, was found to have a tumor between the nose and throat.
“It was really something that I lost sleep over,” said Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio over the phone. “We needed the trade, because we had no legitimate center left.”
Pardo said that Adducul continues to practice with the squad, though he cannot play in actual games because physical contact is prohibited. The former MBA star has gone through a first session of chemotherapy and “signs of recovery have been encouraging,” he added.
Because sister teams are barred from trading players, Coca-Cola will give up second-tier guard Chester Tolomia for Villanueva and Willy Wilson of Magnolia before shipping them to Purefoods and Barangay Ginebra.
From the Tigers, Pingris, who won the Most Improved Player award in 2005, will move to Magnolia for a second round pick, while Wilson will end up as a Gin King for streak-shooting Mark Macapagal.
The deal was approved by the Commissioner’s Office on Wednesday.
Less than two weeks ago, the Beverage Masters acquired Mike Cortez and Ken Bono from Alaska, which picked up Larry Fonacier and LA Tenorio in return.
The arrival of Pingris will strengthen the front court of Magnolia further as the tireless leaper will join the likes of Danny Ildefonso, Dorian Peña, Samigue Eman and Danny Seigle.
Pingris will also give Magnolia a potent one-on-one defender, who can handle practically all sorts of players.
And it would be interesting to see how Magnolia fares in the import-spiced Philippine Cup with a lineup that now looks stronger than what it paraded in the last tournament where coach Siot Tanquingcen admitted to having a hard time dividing his stars’ playing time.
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