MANILA, Philippines — Marqus Blakely planed in Monday morning and will start his own buildup to help San Mig Coffee defend the season-ending PBA Governors’ Cup championship in less than three weeks.
The winner of the Best Import award last season, Blakely came in early to get acclimatized and also watch his San Mig teammates battle for a spot in the Commissioner’s Cup Finals and possibly win a third straight title.
Blakely tossed in an average of close to 24 points and plucked down 14.3 rebounds in a solid tournament last season with the Mixers, who won in a thrilling seven-game series with Rain or Shine.
Incidentally, San Miguel Beer and Barangay Ginebra, the Mixers’ sister squads, will be pinning their hopes on an old face in Elijah Millsap and newcomer Zaccheus Mason, respectively.
Millsap, a prolific scorer, has committed for a second tour of duty with the Beermen after his first ended disappointingly when a foot injury slowed him down.
Alaska, which lost the Commissioner’s Cup after bowing out in the quarterfinals opposite the Mixers recently, will be bringing in Bill Walker, an NBA veteran who will try to help the Aces rebound from that stinging exit.
Walker, picked 47th overall by the Washington Wizards in the 2008 Draft, had stints with Boston and New York before sliding down to the NBA’s D-League last season.
Teams should be finalizing deals with their respective imports within the next few days as the Governors’ Cup will open just three days after the end of the Commissioner’s Cup Finals.
Finalist Talk ‘N Text is still waiting for the winner of the semifinal matchup between San Mig Coffee and Air21 series which is now tied at 2-2 following the Express’ impressive 94-91 win Monday night.
Meanwhile, Talk ‘N Text’s Ryan Reyes, who had five triples in the Tropang Texters’ 99-91 Game 3 win over Rain or Shine in their Final Four clash last week, was named the Accel-PBA Press Corps Player of the Week—the first such citation for the versatile 6-foot Reyes.