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| Carl Montgomery is expected to be cleared for Rain Or Shine's Wednesday night game against Magnolia. |
By Ivan Saldajeno
PASIG--With Rain Or Shine in a hurry to find someone who can contain Magnolia's James Farr for their PBA Commissioner's Cup game on Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, Coach Caloy Garcia tapped the services of Carl Montgomery.
But according to Garcia, had time been on the Elasto Painters' side, he could have waited for another replacement import for Denzel Bowles.
"We already have an import in mind, but the problem is 'di siya aabot sa Wednesday," Garcia said.
Bowles will be sidelined for a lengthy period following a knee injury, particularly a medial meniscus and MCL injury, he suffered in ROS' Saturday night game against Alaska.
While they beat the Aces, they are still in a must-win situation in their next two games, against the Hotshots on Wednesday night and against the San Miguel Beermen on Saturday night, if they want to make the quarterfinals and hopefully avert falling into the seventh or eighth seed which means a twice-to-beat disadvantage in the next round.
That led to ROS taking Montgomery.
"Sabi ko, 'We'll just get the nearest one possible from here. Ang unang pumasok sa amin, yung mga nandoon sa Thailand, Singapore... baka may mga tambay lang na import doon--those who played in the ABL, and we'll probably choose the best import among them.' It so happens na yung isang agent was able to get to contact with Coach Chris Gavina tapos inalok nga itong import. Willing naman daw i-release. Ayun, pinayagan nang i-release. Tomorrow, I think, they're gonna fix all the papers para Wednesday, clear na siyang maglaro," Garcia bared how the team got Montgomery.
Montgomery is fresh from a stint with JD Unicorns Singapore in the Malaysian league.
While the six-foot-eight forward, well within the 6-foot-10 height limit for the Commissioner's Cup, will give up two inches of disadvantage to the likes of Farr and Chris McCullough, Garcia is trusting Montgomery for the job.
"He's not a tall import. He doesn't look like a dominant big man, but I think he can fill in some parts of the game that we need, especially that he has the quickness. We want to go back to the running game. At the same time, medyo magaling naman siyang dumepensa," Garcia said about what Montgomery can do.
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