Blackwater eyes guard, center in PBA Draft

MANILA, Philippines — The Blackwater Bossing are looking to go deeper in the point guard and center positions as they are set to pick second overall in the PBA Draft, head coach Jeffrey Cariaso said.

At the sidelines of the PBA draft combine’s first day on Wednesday, Cariaso confirmed to reporters their needs for players in said positions.

“What we need, honestly, are the one and the five positions. That’s where we feel we can improve. So, that’s where we are looking at, who can possibly fill those roles,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.

“We’re excited to see who is on our shortlist. We have not decided who to pick yet,” he added.

Blackwater ended the Philippine Cup with a 4-7 win-loss record after finishing with a 1-10 slate in the Commissioner’s Cup.

This offseason, they traded their guard Rey Nambatac after just a conference with the team.

The Converge FiberXers will pick first in the draft, and the squad may take the biggest name of the draft pool, 6-foot-8 big man Justine Baltazar.

Despite this, the draft is still deep enough, with potential stars RJ Abarrientos, Sedrick Barefield, Dave Ildefonso, Kai Ballungay, Jonnel Policarpio and Evan Nelle still on the board.

Players like Abarrientos, Barefield, Ildefonso, Nelle, Jerom Lastimosa, Ben Phillips and others were unable to participate in the combine.

“Obviously, we can talk about the most common names at this point, like RJ Abarrientos, of course Barefield, Dave Ildefonso. Guys like Evan Nelle… guys you wanna consider,” he said.

“But then, you see guys like Kai Ballungay, a lot of good players from 1 to 5 that could potentially be the number 2 for us,” he added.

“But, it’s really… the focus, really, is what we need the most. So that’s where we will go with our pick.”

Asked about whether or not the first day of the combine made their decision harder, Cariaso had a frank answer.

“Honestly, [the decision did not become harder] because the players we are considering are not here. I think it’s fair to say, and it’s not a mystery, that we’re looking at those guys,” the coach stressed.

“Those guys that we’re looking at, they’re not here. But, we’re seeing some diamonds in the rough that could be sleepers that we could look at, so we’re happy.”