Blackwater head coach Ariel Vanguardia expressed interest in joining the Matthew Wright sweepstakes ahead of the Commissioner’s Cup as he aims to plug the hole at the small forward spot in their lineup.
The Bossing made it to the playoffs in the All-Filipino Cup after a tumultuous stretch last season that saw them drop 29-straight games. Blackwater had a dream 5-1 start but suffered six straight losses including a 123-93 beatdown at the hands of San Miguel Beer on their way out of the conference.
Vanguardia said injuries plagued the team in July and that’s the reason he’s trying to improve their lineup and make some changes.
“We are going to look at the lineup, see if we can make some trades. We are going to look at free agents also. We will see. Right now, I don’t have any names. But obviously, if we can get someone like Matthew Wright, the three spot, that’s our weakness for us right now,” said Vanguardia.
“Like a Matthew Wright, like a Rome Dela Rosa, Aris Dionisio, Robbie Herndon, a tall three that can shoot," he added.
Vanguardia however didn’t hide his interest in trying to get Wright to Blackwater especially that he’s actually the one who drafted the deadshot sniper in Phoenix after he previously played for him in Westport Malaysia Dragons in ABL.
“Malay mo si Matthew Wright ibigay sa amin, ‘di ba? Libre naman mangarap e. ‘Cause he’s expiring, we’re gonna offer some trade for him, maybe a package that Phoenix is willing. But alam naman natin where he’s headed,” added Vanguardia while also admitting that the possibility of reunion between him and Wright at Blackwater is slim.
Wright for his part had expressed his plans to explore other options outside Phoenix which includes other teams in the PBA and offers from overseas.
Nonetheless, Blackwater is hell bent on keeping the steady improvements as the Bossing are expected to return to practice early in August before going for a couple of tuneup games in Dubai in preparation for the import-laden conference.
“It just goes to show that management is hell bent on improving this conference. We improved his conference and we like to improve some more going to the conference leading to the next conference,” said Vanguardia.