AMERICAN sharpshooter Bennie Boatwright’s arrival has buoyed up San Miguel Beer, which hopes to revive its sagging campaign in the ongoing PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup.
The 6-foot-10 former University of Southern California Trojan has spent the past two days practicing with the Beermen and reacquainting with his teammates.
“So far he’s moving well with no signs of injury. He says he feels good and nothing is bothering him,” SMB team manager Gee Abanilla told The Manila Times.
The San Miguel team official also said that the 29-year-old Boatwright is in game shape since coming off a recent stint with the Daegu Kogas Pegasus in the Korean Basketball League where he averaged 11.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game.
“It also helps that he just came off a stint in the KBL, so he’s in good shape and game-ready,” Abanilla added.
Boatwright is taking the spot of Justin Patton, who has gone AWOL (absent without leave) since San Miguel suffered a 116-112 loss to Rain or Shine.
Patton didn’t report for practice since then, and didn’t bother to play over the weekend, leaving the Beermen to play all-Filipino in a 101-120 beating at the hands of the Magnolia Hotshots.
If the playoffs start this week, the Beermen are out of the picture given their 3-4 win-loss record.
SMB has lost back-to-back games, but has a chance to start turning its fortunes come Sunday when it battles streaking NLEX with Boatwright in tow.
“We still have a few days before game day, which should be enough time for him to build chemistry with the team and get everyone back in sync,” said Abanilla.
Boatwright’s outside shooting will give nine-time league Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo the space he needs to more effective in the paint since opposing team’s defense will now be focusing on the concurrent Gilas Pilipinas naturalized player candidate.
“We see him as a floor spacer, which should really open things up for June Mar inside and complement the slashing of our guards like CJ (Perez), Jericho (Cruz), and the rest,” Abanilla added.
Boatwright led the Beermen to the PBA Season 48 Commissioner’s Cup championship after beating the Hotshots in six games in the Finals.