Nationals back as top teams collide
Photo from Fiba.com
Sleep or no sleep, Terrence Romeo—Gilas Pilipinas’ most explosive scorer in the recent Fiba Asia Cup in Lebanon—is back to give GlobalPort a boost.
June Mar Fajardo, Matthew Wright, Jayson Castro and RR Pogoy are returning as well, as teams slowly return to full force with the PBA Governors’ Cup eliminations to enter its second half starting Friday at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.
All eyes, however, are on Romeo, who bailed Gilas out of the woods in two critical games in Beirut, as he returns to a Batang Pier crew badly needing a shot in the arm in a bid to join the frenzied hunt for top four berths and twice-to-beat privileges in the season-closing conference.
And about the only thing coach Franz Pumaren is worried about is his prized
5-foot-10 point guard getting enough sleep for GlobalPort’s 7 p.m. clash with powerhouse San Miguel Beer, which will welcome back Fajardo.
“He practiced (Thursday) but said that he hasn’t had any sleep yet,” Pumaren told the Inquirer over the phone.
Romeo arrived with the rest of the PH team on Tuesday night and is battling jetlag, which could hit all the Nationals the hardest on Friday.
“That’s the only problem we have right now,” Pumaren added. “Otherwise, he seems to be good. We will be using him (for the game) depending on how he feels. But definitely, he will play.”
Romeo was the hero in Gilas’ 97-86 victory over China in the group stage and against Jordan, 75-70, in the clash for seventh place in the Fiba Asia Cup, and his return to GlobalPort certainly gives the Batang Pier more teeth against the Beermen.
San Miguel is at 3-1 and will play the 6-foot-10 Fajardo limited minutes because of a pulled calf muscle that kept him out of the first three Gilas games.
Wright, on the other hand, is sorely needed back at Phoenix Petroleum as the Fuel Masters try to arrest a five-game slide against TNT KaTropa in the 4:15 p.m. contest.
The Texters are set to get back Castro and Pogoy.
Phoenix will now have two deadly outside guns against TNT with Wright and new acquisition Jeff Chan.
