TAIPEI—Coach Bo Perasol on Monday defended the composition of the Philippine representative Mighty Sports Apparels in the William Jones Cup here, explaining that they did not break any rule of the tournament.
“We broke no rule in bringing in seven imports,” said Perasol after the team pulled off an 89-81 win over host Taiwan-A in a win that drew criticism from local media.
On Monday, the team imposed its will on a young Korean team in an 86-65 victory, its second in the tournament.
“When we were invited by the Jones Cup organizers after our Gilas and the Cadet were not available, they had specific instructions to make sure that the team that we are going to assemble is a competitive one,” said Perasol.
“It was difficult to sign up local players as most of them are playing in the PBA or the D-League and have existing contracts. The most logical recourse, with the very limited time of about two weeks, would be to sign up ex-PBA imports.”
Leading the reinforcements for the Philippines-Mighty Sports are Al Thornton, Vernon Macklin, Hamady N’ Diaye, Mike Singletary and Zach Graham.
Team Manager Jean Alabanza said they made use of the club’s resources to tap the services of ex-PBA imports so as not to give embarrassment to the country.
“It would be embarrassing to the club, more so to our country if we bring so-so players and lose by a mile,” said Alabanza.
At presstime, Mighty Sports was playing the Korean national team.
The Koreans rebounded from a shock 74-73 loss to the Egyptians with a 63-48 drubbing of the University Sacramento State, while Taiwan-B outlasted the Egyptian, 79-74 win, for similar 1-1 records.
Dewarick Spencer, who exploded for 27 points highlighted by an impressive 5-of-8 shooting from 3-point zone, said he and fellow Korean Basketball League star Troy Gillenwater readily accepted the invitation to play for Mighty Sports knowing how passionate Filipinos are when it comes to basketball.
“We are all focused to win for Mighty Sports and the Philippines,” added the sweet-shooting guard who also had four rebounds, three steals and two assists in almost 30 minutes of action.
