Nov 25, 2021

Import roster complete by Saturday

THE PBA Governors' Cup kickoff can be set in the next few days with all imports expected to be in the country by Saturday.

Barangay Ginebra's Justin Brownlee and Rain or Shine's Henry Walker were set to fly in Thursday while Meralco's Tony Bishop is arriving Friday or Saturday, and that will complete the roster of imports that will duke it out in PBA Season 46 second conference.

"Makukumpleto na ang imports, at konting detalye na lang ang hinihintay natin with our venue hosts, kaya malapit na tayong magsimula for the Governors' Cup," said PBA commissioner Willie Marcial.

The Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan, MOA Arena in Pasay, the Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo and the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig are among the venues being considered for the Governors' Cup.

Most of the ball clubs are ready to go, except the teams whose import is still in quarantine or about to enter hotel quarantine.

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As mere replacement to Meralco's original choice Shabazz Muhammad, Bishop will be the last to plane in.

Bishop is the last but certainly not the least.

"Based on videos that I've seen, he has lots of versatility and can play 3,4 and 5 (spots). He's 6-5 and has a long wingspan. Hopefully, he'll be a good fit to our team," said Black of Bishop, a well-travelled Panamanian player who played with former PBA import Renaldo Balkman with the Guaynabo team in the Puerto Rican league.

A Panamanian national player since 2014, Bishop led Richland College in Dallas to the US junior college D-3 title in 2009. He saw action for two seasons with D-1 Texas State then played in Denmark, Lithuania, Puerto Rico, Germany, Panama, Japan (D-3), Romania and Poland. Bishop averaged 9.3 points in eight games for Panama during the FIBA 2019 World Cup qualifiers.

NBA veteran Shabazz Muhammad was supposed to suit up for Meralco but a personal emergency got in the way. Muhammad, who lives in Las Vegas, went to the Philippine consulate in Los Angeles for his visa last week and was ready to fly over until something came up. (SB)

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