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Malik Pope comes in for the surprisingly up-and-down Beermen. PBA Images |
PASIG--San Miguel coach Leo Austria admitted on Wednesday night that the team could be on the lookout for a new import to replace the struggling Jabari Narcis.
"We will see in the next few days because the management will not allow this to happen to us," said Austria, who decided to bench Narcis after going scoreless in only seven minutes of action in his team's EASL loss to Hong Kong Eastern at the PhilSports Arena.
Despite bringing in Narcis to replace the then-injured Torren Jones, the Beermen struggled in both the EASL and PBA, going 1-4 in all the games Narcis was in.
Even in that lone win, an 85-78 decision against the Magnolia Hotshots on Sunday night, Narcis could not get his game going, finishing 5-of-19 from the field including a dismal 1-of-8 on long bombs.
Despite the short window of shifting its attention from EASL Wednesday back to the PBA realm ahead of a Saturday night clash up north against Meralco, SMB decided to pull the plug on Narcis, bringing in Malik Pope in his place.
Pope, a former five-star high school standout, joined the Beermen on the trip to Candon and was activated in time before the Friday noon cutoff for the official lineups in the Saturday night game.
Listed at 6-feet-10, the 28-year-old power forward, a veteran of the NBA G-League who last played for Utilitas Rapla in the Estonian league, will be the Beermen's fourth import in the ongoing conference as in a rare moment in the June Mar Fajardo era, they are suddenly in danger of missing the quarterfinals.
SMB is currently hanging to the eighth spot in the team standings at 4-4, and a win against Meralco at the Candon City Arena will significantly solidify their playoff hopes.
Despite having a new import, the Beermen will have tough opposition ahead as the Bolts, in a four-way tie with the Long Lions, Rain Or Shine Elasto Painters, and Barangay Ginebra at 6-3 before the Friday games involving Eastern and Ginebra, are also in need of a huge win to strengthen their shot in clinching a Top 2 spot in the quarterfinals, which would merit a one-win bonus in the next round.
The huge clash between the PBA Philippine Cup finalists is set at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
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