Apr 20, 2018

Gregzilla's state of health prompts Ginebra to replace Shane Edwards in favor of 6-foot-10 Charles Garcia

Shane Edwards is packing his bag without playing a single game with the Barangay Ginebra Kings.

The Kings, instead, will be with a bigger reinforcement in 6-foot-10 Charles Garcia as they open their campaign in the PBA Commissioner's Cup against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters on April 29 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

"When we first contracted Shane Edwards, we believed Greg would be healthy and available to play, and Shane could play alongside him," said Ginebra coach Tim Cone.

"But with Greg's injury, we feel that we need someone to replace Greg rather than play alongside him. So we're bringing in a 6'10 big man in Charles Garcia, a player I have scouted in the past," Cone added.

Meanwhile, NLEX coach Yeng Guiao was forced to look for an interim import in Adrian Forbes as original choice Arnett Moultrie got stuck in Bahrain.

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Moultrie can't leave the Gulf state yet as he's settling a salary dispute with his former ball club Al Muharraq.

Thus, coming in for NLEX is Forbes, a Jamaican who played college ball with Auburn University.

Forbes and the Road Warriors play their first game in the tourney against Columbian Dyip on April 28 at the Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo.

Ginebra's new import arrives Saturday night, eight days before their Commissioner's Cup debut. Garcia is an NBA D-League champ and all-star player with a rich experience of tours of duty abroad.

The Kings will still be without Slaughter for a good part of the Commissioner's Cup elimination round as he's still nursing the same ankle injury that caused him to miss the Philippine Cup playoffs.

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Standing just a little over 6'7, Edwards is undersized against hulking imports like Arinze Onuaku, Jarrid Famous and Vernon Macklin.

At first, Cone felt they would enjoy good strengths with Edwards, the former Cleveland Cavalier with a mean perimeter shooting and an ability to attack the basket as he has shown in his previous PBA stint with the Alaska Milk Aces in 2016.

But then the slow healing of Slaughter's injury prompted Cone to consider looking for a post presence.

Minus Slaughter, the Kings got past the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the quarterfinals but were crushed by the San Miguel Beermen in the semifinals. The eventual champs disposed of the Kings in five games in their best-of-seven series.(SB)