THERE’S a new King in town.
Former Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavs forward George King flew in Tuesday and is taking the spot of Ricky Ledo as the Blackwater Bossing tangle with the Barangay Ginebra Kings in the PBA Governors’ Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila Friday.
The Blackwater Bossing showed a lot of promise in the preseason, going unbeaten in five tune-up matches but then took a bad turn with Ledo turning to be a lemon as the season started.
The Bossing dropped their first two matches against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 97-110, and the NLEX Road Warriors, 87-104, where Ledo hit at a woeful 15.8-percent clip.
Team owner Dioceldo Sy was so disappointed that he decided to sit out Ledo in their third game against the San Miguel Beermen. The all-Filipino Blackwater crew even took control in the first half but couldn’t sustain the momentum and went down to a 108-128 setback.
Coach Tim Cone’s chargers have recovered from their losing season debut against Rain or Shine, breaking into the win-column with a 108-102 disposal of San Miguel Tuesday.
Justin Brownlee poured in a PBA career-high 51 points in that game and should give King a stern test in the latter’s debut in the local pro league.But King could and should give the Bossing a lift.
King, 30, was Phoenix’ second-round selection in the 2018 draft who’s a veteran of international play, with tours of duty in Italy, Poland, Germany, Australia and Israel. He’s also done the Utah, Phoenix and Portland jerseys in the Summer League and the LA Clippers’ in the preseason
“This being an import-laden conference, there is a need for our import to step up more. There’s an expectation that our import needs to provide because the other imports are doing exactly that,” said Blackwater coach Jeff Cariaso.(SB)
