Barako Bull introduces another NBA top draftee in Rodney White as the Energy tangle with the
Powerade Tigers in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome Friday night.
Barako coach Junel Baculi hopes White helps reenergize the team, having dropped their last three games after a triumphant tournament debut versus the Alaska Aces. “We have to check our slump or we move on the verge of disaster,” said Baculi. White comes in while the team waits for Dermarr Johnson to recover from a groin injury he suffered versus Rain or Shine in Dubai Thursday. “Tignan natin kung ano ang mangyayari. At least, may options kami,” Baculi said. At 1-3, Barako is hard-pressed to win as it plays Powerade at 7:30 p.m. The Tigers, meanwhile, are out to keep pace with the Talk n Text Tropang Texters, seeking victory No. 3 in the mid-season tourney. “As of now, the only justification we have for our team’s existence is to keep on winning. We intend to do that no matter what,” said Powerade coach Bo Perasol. The Tigers, the surprise second placers in the Philippine Cup, hope to get going, looking to sustain the momentum of their back-to-back wins over Rain or Shine and Meralco. Perasol said they would size up White in the early goings then make the necessary adjustments. What the Tigers know about White is what they see on the internet. White, 31 and listed as a 6-foot-9 forward, was picked by the Detroit Pistons with the No. 9 overall selection in the 2001 NBA Draft. He later also had stints with the Denver Nuggets and the Golden State Warriors. He starred for North Carolina-Charlotte in college before graduating to the NBA where he averaged 7.1 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 218 games from 2001-2005. He enjoyed a career-best average of 9.0 points with the Nuggets in 2002-03 while playing 21.7 minutes an outing. The Nuggets, however, had a bad season, enabling them to pick Carmelo Anthony in the succeeding NBA Draft. With Anthony on board, the Nuggets packaged White with Nikoloz Tskitishvili in a trade to the Warriors for Eduardo Najera, Luis Flores and a future pick. White played sparingly in 16 games for the Warriors, averaging 5.1 points in 11.7 minutes. He was released the following summer. From the NBA, White drifted to the Euro League before landing in Asia. White flew in to Manila Wednesday fresh from the Chinese league. “He’s bigger (than Johnson) at 240 pounds so we’ve improved our inside presence. He also has a good touch from the outside,” said Baculi. (SB) source: pba.ph
_header.jpg)
0 (mga) puna:
Post a Comment