PHOTO COURTESY OF PBA IMAGES
All 12 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) teams have been neck-deep in preparations for the league’s 46th season, but no other squad is relishing the moment more than coach Nash Racela and his Blackwater squad.
For Racela, the month-long window to hold scrimmages affords his team a chance to build on its chemistry and its confidence—especially after the franchise dealt away former cornerstone Mac Belo and vital cogs Don Trollano, Roi Sumang,and Maurice Shaw.
“In a way, you’re pressing the reset button again,” Racela told the Inquirer on Thursday, shortly after the team’s practice in Tagaytay City. “So having more time to hold practices. I hope, significantly helps [our cause].”
The Bossing now have seven new faces in its fold: veterans Baser Amer, Simon Enciso, David Semerad and Kelly Nabong, along with rookies Andre Paras, Rey Mark Acuño and Joshua Torralba.
And they are just exactly what Racela needs in his bid to “balance out the threat.”
“Back then, whenever we played other teams, they’d just pick one or two players to concentrate their defense on,” he pointed out. “So with all these players coming in, we’ll have multiple threats.”
In last year’s Philippine Cup, Trollano and KG Canaleta were the tip of the club’s spear during the bubble tournament, averaging 14 and 11.7 points, respectively.