MANILA, Philippines—Chris McCullough’s PBA Commissioner’s Cup debut was impressive, to say the least, as he lead San Miguel to a close 109-105 win over NLEX Friday at Mall of Asia Arena.
The 29th pick in the 2015 NBA Draft scored 47 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in his first game for the Beermen and his style of play caught the eye of opposing coach Yeng Guiao.
Guiao said it wasn’t just McCullough’s numbers that piqued his interest but it was the forward’s style of play that impressed the most.
“San Miguel made a good decision to replace their import with somebody who can space the floor and give June Mar some more room to operate,” said Guiao.
McCullough replaced Charles Rhodes after the Beermen went 2-5 in their first seven games with the Best Import of the 2017 Commissioner’s Cup.
The 6-foot-8 Rhodes was more of an interior presence for the Beermen while McCullough, who’s an inch taller, plays as a stretch 4 in San Miguel’s system and his 6-of-12 shooting from beyond the arc can attest to that.
This left Fajardo to have a wide space underneath the basket to operate as he put up eight points and nine rebounds with the offense deferring more to McCullough.
Backup center Christian Standhardinger also got to execute more freely on a wider paint with 12 points and nine rebounds.
Guiao said NLEX could’ve devised a better defensive plan if Rhodes was still San Miguel’s import but the newcomer McCullough was a virtual enigma for the Road Warriors.
“Of course we know Charles Rhodes’ game better, we’re more familiar with the way he plays,” said Guiao. “We’re not really familiar with the way this import plays. That’s part of the risk, actually the first game could’ve went bad for the new import so it’s a gamble and I think San Miguel won the gamble in changing their import.”