Star import under close scrutiny

Star, a legitimate threat to San Miguel Beer’s Grand Slam chase took a major hit on Sunday night, when the Hotshots saw a four-game winning streak in the PBA Governors’ Cup come to a screeching halt against Rain or Shine.

After the Hotshots paraded the menacing and dominating Ricardo Ratliffe to take the Beermen to the distance in the Commissioner’s Cup’s Final Four, Star was expected to tap a reinforcement of equal—if not better—talent to prepare for San Miguel in the season-closing conference.

Malcolm Hill has been scoring well, but in an 88-92 loss to the Elasto Painters in a game that was physical, to say the least, all the kinks in the young former Illinois star’s armor surfaced.

After the loss, coach Chito Victolero said Hill, who is in his first professional stint and is fresh out of college, is “still OK as far as I am concerned.”

Hill fired 28 points and had 20 rebounds against the Painters, but clearly doesn’t have the physical strength to go up against the likes of powerhouse teams’ imports like San Miguel’s Wendell McKines, Barangay Ginebra’s Justin Brownlee and Meralco’s Allen Durham.

Victolero admitted that Hill will be put to a test, that would more or less determine whether he stays or goes, when the Hotshots clash with the Gin Kings this Sunday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“Yes, for all intents and purposes, it will be his biggest test,” Victolero said “In that game, we will see how far he can carry us. But right now, I think he (Hill) is still OK for the team.”

Ginebra is tall, beefy and can be as physical as any team in the conference, and coach Tim Cone has been known to take advantage of the weaknesses of his opponents.

Meanwhile, Larry Fonacier, in just his third game reunited with coach Yeng Guiao at NLEX, was named the PBA Press Corps’ Player of the Week for the period covering Aug. 21 to 27.
Fonacier scored 16 points and had four rebounds to help the Road Warriors clip San Miguel, 103-100, also on Sunday.