SAN Miguel Beer will not have the benefit of having new acquisition CJ Perez on board as it begins official scrimmages for the start of the PBA 46th season.
Perez is currently at the Inspire Sports Academy with the Gilas 3x3 men's team as it trains under a bubble setup for one final time before leaving for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Graz, Austria this Sunday.
The Beermen began scrimmaging in Batangas City on Thursday.
The league two-time scoring champion is also with fellow Beerman Mo Tautuaa as part of the team that also includes no. 1 top pick Joshua Munzon of Terrafirma, rookies Alvin Pasaol of Meralco and Leonard Santillan of Rain or Shine, along with Karl Dehesa.
Counting the quarantine protocols Perez and Tautuaa will have to follow upon arriving from Austria, it may mean missing at least three weeks of San Miguel's 5-on-5 practices.
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"He will not be with us together with Mo Tautuaa because they are in the bubble. And they're be leaving for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Austria on May 23 and then be back on May 31," said San Miguel coach Leo Austria.
"So that means we will miss them for at least three weeks."
But Austria said Perez has been dutifully attending the virtual workouts of the Beermen the past six months and that's enough for him to get to know how the prolific wingman out of Lyceum works.
"Although those were individual workouts, pero that's enough for me to know what kind of a player CJ is," added the San Miguel mentor in his guest appearance in the program The Game.
Perez was acquired by San Miguel in an off-season trade with Terrafirma for the quartet of Russel Escoto, Matt Ganuelas-Rosser, Gelo Alolino, and the no. 8 pick in the last draft, which turned out to be big man James Laput.
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"There's no doubt CJ Perez is one of the best players in the PBA now kaya nga siya nakukuha dito sa Gilas," said Austria of the team's prized acquisition.
The trade for Perez came after the Beermen failed to defend their Philippine Cup title at the Clark bubble last year when they were booted out by the Meralco Bolts in the quarterfinals. (RG)
