MERALCO comes armed with a new import against a Terrafirma side that also parades a replacement reinforcement Friday in the PBA Commissioner's Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The Bolts are hoping DJ Kennedy would be able to fill up the void created when original import Akil Mitchell suffered a broken nose just 11 seconds in in the game against Rain or Shine last Sunday, putting him in the team's injury/reserve list.
Meralco still won that game, 121-111, to improve to a 2-0 record but coach Luigi Trillo and active consultant Nenad Vucinic know a replacement is needed if they hope to avoid 0-3 Terrafirma's aspirations and stretch their team's unbeaten start.
"Against Terrafirma we can't let our guard down. Kailangan i-double pa namin ang effort," said Trillo, whose crew would still be missing five key players led by Allein Maliksi and Brandon Bates.
"Sayang naman iyung pinaghirapan naming 2-0 (slate) tapos pagdating sa Terrafirma baka talunin pa kami."
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Making Trillo more wary is the fact the Dyip have shown their ability to come back from sizable leads in their last two games despite playing minus import Ryan Richards, who reportedly has been bothered by back issues.
"Actually, they've been playing better without an import. Minsan humahabol sila, but iyun nga, kinakapos lang," noted Trillo.
In a bid to snap out of their losing spell, not to mention salvage their campaign, the Dyip have brought in Brandon Edwards, the same import who was supposed to reinforce them in the last Governors Cup but suffered a pre-season injury.
"From what we heard, 6-6 lang ito pero based sa reports mas maayos daw ito. May tira sa labas pero may galaw rin sa loob," related Trillo.
"Mas in shape itong guy na ito kaysa the other one, Iyung isa (Richards) hindi talaga nakakatakbo, eh. Ito, although undersized, mas may ibubuga."
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Meralco expects at least the same from Kennedy, also a 6-6 wing player who has already been seeing action for the Bolts in the EASL with three-game averages of 20.3 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 4.3 assists.
The 35-year-old, a teammate of Barangay Ginebra's Justin Brownlee at St. John's, was chosen over another naturalized Gilas player Ange Kouame, taller at 6-11 but more of a role player than one who can take charge.
"Si DJ matches up better sa wings. Kung kalaban mo (Blackwater import George) King, aside from (Cliff) Hodge and Jansen (Rios), p'wede mo siyang itapat doon," explained Trillo.
"Just like (TNT's Rondae) Jefferson or Brownlee, he's a matchup nightmare kasi p'wede mo siyang gamitin sa 1 to 4." (NC)
