source: http://www.gmanews.tv/
For the second straight time, a lone game pitting Meralco and Ginebra serves as the conference opener of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
The Kings and the Bolts kick off the import-laden Commissioner’s Cup on Feb. 18 with the road opener in Laoag City.
The same teams also clashed in the lone opening game of the Philippine Cup last Oct. 3, which the Bolts won behind the last-second basket of go-to-guy MacMac Cardona, 73-72.
The Kings will parade inside banger Nate Brumfield against the Bolts’ Anthony Danridge , a former U.S. NCAA slam dunk king.
Brumfield, a product of Oklahoma Baptist University, suited up for the Pioneros de Quintana team in the Mexican league before accepting the job offer of the Kings. He averaged 14.5 points on .566 shooting from the floor and .673 from the stripe in 32 games.
For his part, Danridge, carries even more impressive credentials. He saw action for the University of Mexico, the college team handled by former Olympian Steve Alford, in the Mountain West Conference of the NCAA Division 1.
In his latest stint in the Lebanese Basketball League, Danridge ranked second behind Lebanon national team stalwart Fadi El Khatib in scoring, with averages of 28.0 points per game.
The cast of imports in the league’s second offering for the season will be completed with the expected arrival of San Miguel’s Ira Brown on Wednesday.
Along with Danridge, Brown will be the tallest at 6-4 among the crop of imports. He played for the Gonzaga Bulldogs, the same team that produced Hall of Famer John Stockton.
The rest of the imports include JaJuan Smith of Air21, who is the shortest at 6-foot-2, Russell Carter of Powerade (6-foot-3 3/4), Rain or Shine’s Hassan Adams (6-foot-3 5/16), Alaska’s Larry Williams (6-foot-3 5/8), B-MEG Derby Ace’s Robert Brown (6-foot-2 5/16) and Philippine Cup champion Talk N Text’s Paul Harris (6-foot-3 3/8).
The Philippine-Smart Gilas team will also be competing as a guest team, with 6-foot-10 Marcus Douthit as reinforcement. Douthit is the team's candidate for naturalization.
“There’s nothing amateur about that team (Smart Gilas)," said Talk `N Text coach Chot Reyes. “That team is going to be very, very tough. It has the potential to make it to the Final Four or even the Finals itself." - KY, RCJ, GMA News
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