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Marlou Aquino as a young upstart with so much potential. |
Pong Escobal was taken by BMEG while Lordy Tugade returned to San
Miguel.
And
that’s basically it.
So
this leaves a bunch of players worthless in the coming second conference. With Smart-GIlas taking over Barako Bull’s slot, a dispersal draft was held to give the
Booster players a chance to play in the second conference. As it stands, Barako
Bull is dumbfounded on whether or not they will continue their participation in
the league. So this means we might have seen the last of Paolo Hubalde, Dennis Daa, Rob Wainwright, Ken Bono, Richard Yee, Jim
Viray, Chad Alonzo, Aris Dimaunahan, Big Mac Andaya, Marvin Cruz, Borgie
Hermida, Jason Misolas, Jojo Duncil, Khasim Mirza, Vaughn Canta, and Marlou
Aquino for this season.
Hell,
we could have seen the last of these guys in the PBA.
But
hey, did I just included Marlou Aquino?
Yup, with
this development, Marlou Aquino is left without a team. After getting released
by the Meralco Bolts to Barako Bull
in exchange for Mark Isip and Reed Juntilla, The Skyscraper is in
dire straits on whether or not he’ll continue his playing career. If you think Olsen Racela’s retirement was less than
stellar, maybe we should look at Marlou.
But
unlike Olsen, Marlou can still play... if he wants to. Last conference, Marlou
had 4.5 points and 2.8 rebounds in 15 minutes and 12 games for the Bolts. While
he remained a threat at the start of the Philippine Cup, he was a forgetten man
with the entry of Hans Thiele. Also,
he just inked a one-conference deal so giving him up for Isip and Juntilla is
smart.
However,
I think the need for a 6’9 beanpole that can still play 12 minutes a night and that
can grab rebounds and putbacks and can defend and swat shots is still something
that various PBA teams want.
Surely,
with a mere 6’4 height limit for the Commissioner’s
Cup, teams like Powerade, Rain or Shine, BMEG, and Meralco must be in need
of his services.
As it
stands Aquino, Duncil, Viray, Yee, Wainwright, Misolas and Canta’s contracts
will expire by the end of this month. Hermida will still have a live contract
until July 31 alongside Tugade while the rest of the Barakos will have their
contracts expire on August 31.
Sure,
Barako Bull will shoulder their contracts but I guess only a handful of their players
could still score a gig in the D-League and the rest will try to find work as
Southeast Asian imports, grassroot cagers, coaching staff members, and
civilians.
Hopefully
we can still see these players shine in the PBA.
And
hopefully Marlou can have a great end to a fairly decent PBA career.
Game
over.
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