Chot sticks to Sanford

Coca-Cola import Mark (Big Dawg) Sanford is hurting. Both his knees are banged up. He’s suffering from a left knee contusion and a hyperextended right knee. What he needs is rest from basketball but when there’s a war to fight, rest is a luxury that no one–especially an import–can afford.

Despite gimpy knees, Sanford sucked it up and delivered his usual impressive numbers in the Tigers’ 96-93 win over Barangay Ginebra in a Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Fiesta Conference game at the Big Dome last Sunday. He finished with 30 points, 13 rebounds, four assists, two steals and three blocked shots.

More importantly, Sanford reserved his best for last. He hit six crucial points in the fourth period and barnacled Eric Menk down the stretch. Most imports fold up in the final quarter out of exhaustion. Playing 48 minutes or close to it in humid conditions is no joke. Ask Tyrone Washington what it’s like and he’ll probably tell you to take a hike.

The Tigers return to action against Red Bull on Saturday so Sanford will have had five full days of rest before another slugfest.

Coca-Cola coach Chot Reyes isn’t sure how much more pain Sanford can withstand. He’s considered placing him in the injured list. Under PBA rules, an import may be placed in the injured list and reactivated without the usual five-game mandatory sit-out. But he’s eligible for only a single reactivation. An import isn’t allowed to go in and out of the injured list without limitation.

Locals, however, are treated differently. A local must sit out five games if he’s placed in the injured list.

Finding an import to play on an interim basis isn’t easy. Reyes says he thought of bringing back Ron Hale who’s played out his contract in Japan. But Hale wouldn’t relish the idea of being a stop-gap replacement.

On rumors that he’s interested in Julius Nwosu, Reyes says he’s not looking to recruit the former San Antonio Spurs center from Nigeria.

"If we get Julius, we won’t be able to play our big lineup," points out Reyes. "With Mark, we can go big because he plays three, he’s tall, and he shoots from outside." Reyes makes sense. With Nwosu in the middle, Reyes loses a mismatch opportunity in the two or three spot–something San Miguel Beer enjoys because of Danny Seigle.

Besides, Reyes says Red Bull isn’t letting go of Nwosu’s rights.

PBA rules allow a team to keep the option of an import’s rights for a year. Nwosu played for Red Bull two seasons back but the Barako retained his rights because there was no 6-8 in the conference last year. Ordinarily, the rights are held only for the year after he played.

"We’re sticking to Mark," says Reyes. "He’s our guy. Still, I’ve told him we’re studying other options. We’re looking at other imports in case we need to make a change. It’s a reality we have to face."

Reyes says Rudy Hatfield’s return from sick bay will ease the pressure on Sanford’s shoulders. Hatfield, recovering from a stress fracture in his left foot, will likely be reactivated in Coca-Cola’s last two games of the eliminations to get him ready for the playoffs. The Tigers’ last two games are against Talk ‘N’ Text on May 26 and Shell on May 30.

"I want to see how Rudy and Mark play together," muses Reyes. Clearly, Sanford’s load won’t be as much with Hatfield on the floor. The expectation is Hatfield will make Sanford a more lethal weapon because the former Miami Heat draft pick can concentrate on what he does best–put the ball in the hole–while the H-Bomb focuses on defense and rebounding.

The option of changing imports is a low priority for Reyes.

"It’s difficult to expect a series of imports to adjust to our system," adds Reyes. "You see what we do on the court. We don’t just dump the ball in the hands of the import at low post and make him go one-on-one. We do lots of things. We do half-court and full-court traps. We do ball movement. We can’t keep making changes because it’s difficult enough to get an import to adjust to our system."

Coca-Cola is bidding for one of two automatic quarterfinal tickets. The Tigers are the only team that has beaten San Miguel Beer and they’ve won six of their last seven assignments.

Imagine how much more formidable Coca-Cola could be with Hatfield back in harness and Sanford unleashed to operate freely on offense.