The San Miguel Beermen will have the next couple of days to decide whether to go with current import Jabari Narcis or bring in a new one for the PBA Commissioner's Cup.
Sitting with a 4-4 record in eighth place, the San Miguel Beermen are pitted in rather unfamiliar territory in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup.
The defending champions have failed to look like the dominant team they’ve been over the past decade despite the strong performances of its locals led by June Mar Fajardo.
Despite Fajardo's standout performances and the team's impressive roster, signs of instability and inconsistency have surfaced.
The import challenges that plagued San Miguel during the Governors' Cup appear to persist.
With Bennie Boatwright still recovering from an Achilles injury, the team has already cycled through three imports so far—and potentially more, as their struggles continue.
The question now is: will the Beermen stick with its current import Jabari Smith?
In three games played in the PBA, Narcis has given San Miguel just a win--a close victory against the Magnolia Hotshots, where Marcio Lassiter played hero late.
[ALSO READ: Leo Austria feels new San Miguel import Jabari Narcis has more to show]
In that match, Narcis certainly helped San Miguel’s cause with 18 points and 23 rebounds.
However, in their 74-84 defeat to Eastern, the 27-year-old import failed to score a single point and was limited to just six minutes of action.
[ALSO READ: Cameron Clark elated to finally get revenge with Eastern’s win over San Miguel in EASL]
When asked about possibly another import change, head coach Leo Austria had this to say.
“We shall see. I think the management will not allow this to happen to us because we have a chance eh. But the problem is it's so close,” Austria said during the post-game press conference.
Should SMB decide to try its luck on another import, the team will have just a few days for the player to arrive and be ready for their crucial match against the Meralco Bolts on Saturday.
“Time is really important because Saturday we have a game and getting an import, it's a lot of hard work because you will take a lot of things, especially in documentation and you have to a medical test, special working permit, everything,” Austria explained.
For now, it looks like San Miguel will be going with Narcis for one more match, but even that is not 100% sure just yet.
“Let's see in the next few days we will know if there's somebody who will play for us,” Austria concluded.