Rookie Mallari welcomes change of scenery with open arms

MANILA, Philippines – After the blockbuster five-team, 10-player trade was approved, there was one player who is the most excited to join his new team.

Alex Mallari, who is the third overall pick of this season’s rookie draft, welcomed the change of scenery after languishing at the far end of Petron’s bench in his first conference in the pro league.

“It feels like I’m starting all over again. The most exciting part is to try to earn a spot and learn under coach Tim Cone. I would like to thank Petron for the things they’ve done for me.  I wish them luck and I’m really excited to earn playing time in a championship-caliber team,” Mallari told Philstar.com shortly after he learned of the trade.

The 6-foot-3 athletic combo rookie guard will have his first practice with the defending Commissioner’s Cup champion Coffee Mixers tomorrow and looks forward to meet his new coach and teammates.

“In Petron, I understood that I was not given enough playing time since they’re loaded at the backcourt with Alex (Cabagnot), Denok (Miranda), Joseph (Yeo), Chris (Lutz) and Marcio (Lassiter). In San Mig Coffee, I welcome the chance to earn minutes behind Mark (Barroca), PJ (Simon) and James (Yap),” Mallari added.

Tim Cone’s penchant for long and athletic point guards is very evident in the past, highly-likely patterned after the six-time NBA champion Chicago Bulls of the 90's that oftentimes used Scottie Pippen as point forward.

Cone, who is an advocate of former Bulls and LA Lakers coach Phil Jackson's close associate Tex Winter's triangle system, tried that with JC Intal when he was healthy.  And most recently, in their semifinal loss to Rain or Shine, Cone experimented with Wesley Gonzales as point forward to no success, forcing him to use Barroca heavily in the series while Villanueva recuperated from a suspected dengue that turned out to be negative.