Ginebra went for youth when it traded Christian Standhardinger and Stanley Pringle for budding stars Stephen Holt and Isaac Go in the offseason.
Here’s a team that underwent some major changes in the offseason.
Ginebra made a shocking move days before the PBA Season 49 Draft, letting go of former Best Player of the Conference Christian Standhardinger and Stanley Pringle, as well as the no. 10 overall pick, in a trade with Terrafirma.
That does not make Ginebra any less formidable, though.
In the same deal, Ginebra got younger with Isaac Go, Rookie of the Year frontrunner Stephen Holt, and the no. 3 overall pick which turned out to be the coveted spitfire guard RJ Abarrientos.
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The new Kings showed a lot of promise in Ginebra’s thrilling 91-87 win against New Taipei Kings in an exhibition match in the Macau International Basketball Club Challenge last Juy 31 .
[ALSO READ: Ginebra survives New Taipei Kings in thrilling exhibition match in Macau]
Here’s how the team looks in the upcoming PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup:
Holdovers:
Maverick Ahanmisi
Jeremiah Gray
LA Tenorio
Scottie Thompson
John Pinto
Ralph Cu
Von Pessumal
Jayson David
Raymond Aguilar
Japeth Aguilar
New guys:
Isaac Go
Stephen Holt
Benedict Adamos
Paul Garcia
RJ Abarrientos
Import:
Justin Brownlee
Outlook:
A big blow for Ginebra is the absence of Jamie Malonzo, who is still recovering from a calf injury.
But with a proven-and-tested triangle offense under arguably the GOAT PBA coach in Tim Cone and with naturalized Filipino Justin Brownlee in tow, it seems the Gin Kings are alright.
History suggests players new to the said offense will take a while to get a full grasp of it. But once they do, well, history also suggests that championships will follow.