CEBU, Philippines - Boxing idol Manny Pacquiao will fly in from General Santos City at around noontime Saturday then heads straight to Bocaue, Bulacan to make his PBA debut with Kia Motors versus fellow newcomer Blackwater in the opener of PBA Season 40 at the Philippine Arena.
“That’s confirmed. He’ll do sparring (Friday) then flies to Manila. (Boxing trainer) Freddie Roach has allowed Manny to play,” said Eric Pineda, the Kia Sorento team manager and business manager of Pacquiao.
Though in the thick of his preparation for his fight against Chris Algieri in November in Macau, Pacquiao still follows the training and preparation of the Kia Sorentos for their PBA debut.
“We’re sending him videos and he knows the plays. He has high basketball IQ. His inputs (on plays) are all right,” said Kia chief assistant coach Glenn Capacio.
Is Pacquiao playing long minutes?
“He’s the playing coach. It’s up to him. He also decides whether he starts or comes off the bench. Of course, we’ll be there to assist him,” said Capacio.
Flying in from Gen. Santos City Saturday ahead of the Kia playing coach is his wife Jinkee, who will be the Sorentos’ muse during the traditional parade of teams.
Still uncertain is whether Roach will also be on the sideline to watch his fighter invade a different arena.
“Not sure. May sakit yung kaibigan natin,” said Pineda.
Pacquiao is expected to play only a few minutes as he did in their tune-up game with the Blackwater Elite in Biñan, Laguna a few days back.
Kia is making its maiden appearance in the PBA in style, offering 200 buses to drive to Bocaue then bring back to Manila around 10,000 fans.
In their game, the Sorentos will stake a Kia Picanto as special prize in a half court shootout among lucky fans.
“If nobody gets it in the Kia-Blackwater game, they may extend the shootout all the way to the Ginebra-Talk n Text match,” said PBA media bureau chief Willie Marcial.
Despite a lineup culled just from the dispersal draft and the rookie draft, Kia is hoping to get the “Ws” right in its first PBA season.
Ginia Domingo, the team’s alternate representative to the PBA board, said the team would draw inspiration from Pacquiao.
Pacquiao and Capacio will have at their disposal a young team led by former PBA top draft pick and Rookie of the Year Rich Alvarez and other veterans Hans Thiele, LA Revilla, Richard Alonzo, Rudy Lingganay, Reil Cervantes and Michael Burtscher.
The rest are rookies namely Kenneth Ighalo, Eder Saldua, Josh Webb, Paul Sanga, Alvin Padilla and Angelus Raymundo. — Philippine STAR News Service