Beermen welcome Rogers, battle Slingers

Still searching for its ideal form, San Miguel Beer tries to adjust quickly with a new import when it shoots for solo second versus the Singapore Slingers in the Asean Basketball League (ABL) Sunday.

The Beermen, who lost Brian Williams to a knee injury, hope to draw the same big numbers from Matt Rogers in their bid for a fourth victory against the surging Slingers in a 4 p.m. road game at Singapore Indoor Stadium.

“It’s a good thing that there’s a quality import like Matt Rogers who is ready to suit up for us on short notice,” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria.

Rogers—a 6-foot-11 center who saw action in the NBA D-League—just played for the San Mig Coffee Mixers in the PBA before resident import Denzel Bowles arrived.

But the Beermen hope that just a few days of practice with Rogers will be enough against the Slingers, who had imports Rashad Jones-Jennings and Kyle Jeffers coming up with huge games in back-to-back victories last week.

Austria wants his Beermen to work on their consistency after his team split two road games yet again.

“Just like before, we will continue working on the execution of our system for offense and defense for the whole game until we see a clear win,” said Austria.

Last Feb. 13, Chris Banchero came through the clutch to power the Beermen past Chang Thailand, 77-73, in a road game in Bangkok.

But the Beermen couldn’t build on the thrilling triumph three days later as the preseason favorites bowed to Westports Malaysian Dragons, 82-76, to slip to third with a 3-3 record.

The Slingers, meanwhile, climbed to second with a 4-3 card following a 76-72 nipping of Saigon Heat last Friday where Jones-Jennings finished with an impressive 29 points and 19 rebounds.