Barako Bull to return with souped-up cast

MANILA, Philippines - The Barako Coffee franchise has assured its continued participation in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) with its team owner even declaring their readiness to form a competitive squad for the 2010-2011 wars.

“The PBA has helped us a lot and we don’t want to part ways with something that boosted our company’s name,” said George Chua, owner of the energy food and drink franchise. “Right now, we’re ready to make a serious bid to make the playoffs once more.”

The Barako quintet has placed no higher than 10th since the 2008-09 Philippine Cup and Chua said they want to make a huge turnaround next year by acquiring a marquee player who will be the team’s heart and soul. The franchise, which will revert back to the Barako Bull name, won’t have a first round pick the coming rookie draft, though.

“We want to hire a marquee player, and we have been contacting (player agent) Danny Espiritu to help us out,” said Chua. “To be frank, our performance last conference wasn’t that bad. There were many close games that could have gone our way.”

Barako also intends to hire someone who could help head coach Junel Baculi devise strategies for the squad that won only three of its 18 outings in the Fiesta Conference.