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MANILA, Philippines – Juan Gomez de Liano and Kemark Carino are back home from their Japan B. League stints and are set to team up with Marinerong Pilipino in the 2022 PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup starting Thursday, July 7, at the Araneta Coliseum.
The Gilas Pilipinas prospects headline a Skippers roster made up mostly of Mapua Cardinals stalwarts like Warren Bonifacio and Paolo Hernandez, who recently reached the NCAA Season 97 finals before being swept by Letran.
The Knights, under their usual Wangs name in the D-League, are also making a comeback as one of the squads to watch in the eight-team field with MVP Rhenz Abando and star guard Fran Yu still leading the way.
Brent Paraiso, Mark Sangalang, and Pao Javillonar are also set to return for Letran, which recently won back-to-back NCAA titles at the expense of the aforementioned Mapua squad.
La Salle, meanwhile, will have a severely weakened guard rotation as the Green Archers’ top guards Evan Nelle, Mark Nonoy, and Schonny Winston will all miss action due to personal reasons and academic commitments.
Assistant coach Gian Nazario bared the development at the Tuesday, July 5, edition of the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum.
The Archers, who recently lost veterans Justine Baltazar and Kurt Lojera due to graduation, are now looking to heavily bank on UAAP Season 84 Mythical Five member Michael Phillips to carry the load on both ends of the court.
Gilas project Kevin Quiambao will also make his debut for the seniors team after sitting out the last UAAP season.
Over to other teams, UST continues its development with this tournament, and is still bannered by Gilas call-up Sherwin Concepcion, UAAP Season 84 revelation Nic Cabanero, and other core players like Paul Manalang and Bryan Santos.
Head coach Jinino Manansala, however, will not oversee the rest of the Growling Tigers’ process as he is currently back with his old team St. Clare – also one of the favorites for the Aspirants’ Cup.
Winners of five straight titles in the National Athletic Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (NAASCU), the Saints are bannered by rookie-MVP Johnsherick Estrada and foreign student-athlete Babacar Ndong.
CEU, AMA, and San Sebastian make up the rest of the field, and are also expected to put up tough, physical fights against the league’s top teams.
Letran and St. Clare figure in a clash of champions to open the tournament on Thursday, 10:30 am, while CEU and AMA wrap up the early double-header at 12:30 pm. – Rappler.com
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