As stars sit out Terrific 12, Blackwater young guns get their exposure

MACAU—Blackwater lost two blowout games in the East Asia Super League: The Terrific 12, but head coach Aris Dimaunahan believes things could’ve been different if his key stars were in play.

The star tandem of Mike Digregorio and Bobby Ray Parks and Rabeh Al-Hussaini all were nursing health concerns and had to sit out the invitational here.

Dimaunahan said the complexity of his team would’ve changed drastically if the three had played. Instead, the Elite lost their two games by a margin of 33 points including a 109-69 beatdown from China that eliminated them from contention.

“This could’ve been a different story if Rayray, Rabeh, and Mike played because it’s like we lost 36 to 40 points among those three guys,” said Dimaunahan Wednesday at Tap Seac Sports Pavilion here.

“We have to deal with the situation and let the other guys play and see how they would fare in the international tournament.”

But Dimaunahan was happy to see his other players get the exposure ahead of the Governors’ Cup which opens Friday.

Paul Desiderio and Gelo Alolino took the role of Parks and DiGregorio but the two couldn’t make up for the lost offense and put a combined average of 13 points a game.

“Our younger guys had the minutes here and they would learn from it and help them in the third conference.”