Fresh hope for Blackwater

A 0-3 start in the PBA Governors’ Cup was farthest from Blackwater owner Dioceldo Sy’s expectations after the Bossing went unbeaten in five preseason tune-ups. Coach Jeff Cariaso’s squad beat NorthPort, San Miguel, Barangay Ginebra and Terrafirma then battled a visiting Korean team to a draw in getting ready for the conference.

The outlook was bright for import Ricky Ledo who never played college basketball but was Milwaukee’s second-round draft pick in 2013 and saw action in two NBA seasons with Dallas and New York.  Ledo, 31, was also with the Mavs, Knicks and Sacramento in three NBA Summer Leagues. The Philippines was his ninth hoop stop after Puerto Rico, Turkey, Italy, China, Poland, Taiwan, Lebanon and Greece.  In China, Ledo hit a career-high 54 points. His creds were solid and there was no reason to imagine he would be a bust.

Sy described Ledo as “super bait, very humble plus ex-NBA (with) good attitude.” He was so upbeat that his forecast was bright and sunny. “With some luck and God’s will, I think kaya mag-semis and God knows, finals,” said the Ever Bilena CEO. To load up for the season, Cariaso brought in rookies Sedrick Barefield, DJ Mitchell and Miggy Corteza and veterans Jewel Ponferrada and Kib Montalbo.  Gone were Rey Nambatac, Mike DiGregorio, Archie Concepcion, Gab Banal, James Sena and Rashawn McCarthy from last conference’s lineup. Relegated to the injured reserve list were James Yap, Richard Escoto, Mike Ayonayon and RK Ilagan.

So when Blackwater skidded to a sour start, Sy was disconsolate. Ledo got the pink slip after two games where he shot 15.8 percent from the floor. What went wrong? Did he get a better offer from somewhere else and played poorly to force his termination? Sy said it was a 360-degree turn-around and called Ledo a lemon. He couldn’t wait for a replacement and sent Ledo packing before Blackwater’s game against San Miguel Beer last Sunday. Playing importless, Blackwater led, 63-56 at the half but couldn’t sustain the momentum and lost, 128-108.

Former NLEX and San Miguel import Cameron Clark initially agreed to fly in to replace Ledo but backed out at the last minute. He would’ve arrived last night. George King is booked to touch down this morning and will suit up against Ginebra on Friday. He took off from San Antonio last Monday and had stops in Los Angeles and Hong Kong enroute to Manila. King, 30, was drafted by Phoenix in the second round in 2018. He played for Phoenix and Dallas in the NBA, Utah, Phoenix and Portland in the Summer League and LA Clippers in the preseason. King was an import in Italy, Poland, Germany, Australia and Israel. He played three games with the US team at the FIBA World Cup 2023 Americas Qualifiers.

“Blackwater is embracing the fact that we will win and lose together,” said Cariaso. “I attribute the first two games to unfamiliarity and growing pains. We’re still learning how to play to-gether under the system in place. This being an import-laden conference, there is a need for our import to step up more. There’s an expectation that our import needs to provide because the other imports are doing exactly that. As a whole, we all need to be better moving forward. It was crazy last week as we played three games. Sed (Barefield) is still adjusting but the talent is there. We’re happy with DJ, he just needs to keep pushing and stay ready because honestly, there are a couple of guys in front of him. He’s a good kid, works hard, he’ll get his opportunities.”

Troy Rosario is leading the charge for Blackwater, averaging 17.3 points. Barefield is hitting at a 16.7 clip, Christian David 11.3 and James Kwekuteye 11.3. Mitchell, 24, shot 40.6 percent from three in 12 MPBL games this season and against San Miguel, tallied nine points in 7:56 minutes when he got the call in the fourth quarter. King’s arrival could be Blackwater’s tipping point.