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MANILA, Philippines – Dynamite Danny is set to be detonated in Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters’ next game against Globalport Batang Pier on Tuesday, December 3.
It will be Danny Seigle’s first game with the Texters since announcing his decision to go with the 3-time PBA Philippine Cup defending champions 4 days ago.
“I’m pretty sure he’ll be in the lineup next game,” said Talk ‘N Text head coach Norman Black after their overtime victory against the Alaska Aces on Thursday.
The only hitch barring Seigle from suiting up is a PBA rule, which states that each team is only allowed 5 active Filipino-foreign athletes per team. Talk ‘N Text is bannered primarily by Fil-foreign players that include Jimmy Alapag, the comebacking Kelly Williams, Sean Anthony, Harvey Carey, and Ali Peek.
This means that the coaching staff must decide who will be on the reserve list.
Black is still unsure of who it will be but bared that their decision will be based on players’ health.
“We’re not really sure who we’re going to bring down to the reserve list at this moment,” Black said. “We’ll just decide who’s healthy and not healthy and make a decision based on that.”
New lease on the hardwood
Seigle, a PBA veteran of 14 years, was a free agent before getting signed. He was released from his former team Barako Bull as negotiations for a contract extension failed as Seigle reportedly wanted to explore the free agent market.
When the Tropang Texters offered him the contract, Seigle was practically offered a new lease on his career.
“I don’t give it much thought.” Seigle explained there’s no big deal in him jumping ship to a rival franchise after playing for San Miguel for the majority of his career.
“It just happened that way. I was without any team. And Talk ‘N Text was there, and they offered.”
He added that he had no offers from other teams, so when Talk ‘N Text expressed interest, he saw it “as a great opportunity.”
Black elaborated the team’s main reason for acquiring Seigle was to deepen their roster in anticipation of injuries. He said it is added preparation for next year when most key players will be training for Gilas Pilipinas’ FIBA Championships campaign.
“We brought him [Seigle] in because we have been having problems with injuries,” he explained. “We can’t discuss all of them publicly but some of the players are actually playing injured. And we just have to get a little more depth.”
Black added: “Plus, if you added the fact that after this conference most of my players will be going back to the SMART Gilas team again, we could use as much depth as we can get for the entire year.”
Until Tuesday’s game, Seigle will slowly be integrated into the team’s system.
“He’s fit, he looks like he’s in pretty good shape and we’re gonna use the next 3 days of practice to try to get him a little bit educated about our offense and our defense, so he has a chance to contribute,” Black said.
There’s more to show
“It feels great,” Seigle said about taking his talents to a new team. “I think I’m coming into a great situation. I just have to take advantage of that.”
At 37 and one of the league’s best forwards, Seigle has had a decorated career.
He is a member of 6 PBA champion teams and a 9-time PBA All-Star. He was also the PBA Rookie of the Year in 1999 and is a 5-time Finals MVP.
By no means do those achievements imply that he has nothing left to show. Seigle is confident he can be the Dynamite Danny he was before. Just how big of an explosion that might be is an entirely different matter.
“I definitely have some gas in the tank,” he said chuckling, still with a sense of certainty that was very much audible in the loud arena. “How much remains to be seen, I guess.”
Dynamite Danny has a fresh fuse ready to be lit with a new team. –Rappler.com
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