The PBA debut of Thomas Robinson will have to wait as San Miguel Beer is set to parade Diamond Stone in lieu of the highly touted import when it takes on Blackwater in the 2022 Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday, Oct. 5.
Carrying arguably the most impressive resume among this year’s cast of imports, all eyes were initially set on Robinson before he was relegated to the injured/reserve list just a day before his supposed debut.
While not as touted as Robinson, Stone, a 40th overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft and played for the LA Clippers, looks to help the Beermen open their campaign on a high note at the Bossing’s expense in the first offering at 3 p.m.
Also making his debut is fellow former NBA player and Gilas Pilipinas naturalized player candidate Cameron Oliver when the last conference’s first runner-up TNT, likewise, opens its conference against Magnolia in the main event at 5:45 p.m.
SMB is coming in oozing with confidence especially after a title run in the 2022 Philippine Cup that saw the team end a three-year title drought. Incidentally, the last title SMB won before going on to a dry spell was the 2019 Commissioner’s Cup when it was bannered by high-flying import and former NBA player Chris McCullough.
No mid-season conference was played since then due to the pandemic, making the Beermen as the de facto defending champions.
The Bossing, on the other hand, are expected to pull all the stops to contain the mighty Beermen as they hope to avoid falling into a 1-3 hole this early in the conference. Blackwater actually looked poised to pick up its second straight win against NLEX in their last game but collapsed towards the end and suffered a heartbreaking 105-102 loss.
Baser Amer, Ato Ular, import Cameron Krutwig and the rest of the Bossing should not commit the same mistakes and play perfect for full 48 minutes if they wish to topple the Beermen who, aside from Stone, will be relying to local stars June Mar Fajardo, CJ Perez, Marcio Lassiter and Jericho Cruz.
Meanwhile in the second game, Cameron Oliver also looks to make an impression since not only the TNT fans are on the lookout for his game but also the Gilas faithfuls who are intrigued on what he can bring to the national team.
Oliver is set to team up with prolific guards Jason Castro, RR Pogoy and Mikey Williams as the Tropang Giga aim to finally get over the hump after finishing second in the last edition of the Commissioner's Cup in 2019, losing the Finals against SMB.
Out to foil TNT’s bid for a winning start to the mid-season conference is Magnolia, which, on the other hand, guns for a 3-0 record and join Bay Area atop the standings.