Artadi wants out of Purefoods; Belasco haggling for more?
By Zean Macamay
People's Journal
September 8, 2007
The former University of the East star has approached Purefoods management and demanded to be released, citing limited playing time given by coach Ryan Gregorio as main reason.
The 26-year-old point guard’s three-year contract with the Giants expires on Sept. 15. Artadi, however, personally made the first move of talking things out with team management to give him up and surrender its rights.
“He (Artadi) is disappointed about his exposure,” said a person close to Artadi and who requested not to be identified. “He wants to be released so he can find other options.”
Artadi, drafted 11th by Purefoods in 2004, the same year schoolmate and close friend James Yap joined the PBA, hasn’t actually seen much action during the three years he was with the Giants.
His position as a playmaker has been very limited because Gregorio prefers Roger Yap, the player who was picked up from Shell when it disbanded. Also, June Simon, another hotshot, shares the playmaking role with Yap and Artadi.
Purefoods has already signed 11 players, and still needs three more to complete a 14-man line-up for the season-opening PBA Philippine Cup that begins on Oct. 24.
Jun Limpot, who was once the league’s highest-paid player, and Richard Yee are players still unsigned by Purefoods.
As of press time, the Giants were playing Ginebra at the start of the pre-season tournament.
Assuming Purefoods does release Artadi, Welcoat is more than willing to acquire the 5-11 guard.
“I think he (Artadi) will have a good chance obtaining a slot in our team,” said Welcoact team owner Terry Que. “He’s the kind of player we want. Besides that, he already has three years of PBA experience.”
Meantime, Nic Belasco may not find himself with the Dragons after all.
Que disclosed that the veteran forward, traded by Alaska to the Dragons on Draft Day, has made a series of new demands that were not itemized when both parties met last month.
For one, Belasco demanded that if ever he suffers an injury and needs surgery, the operation should be done in the U.S. and not here.
“Madami nang hinihingi eh,” said Que. “Nakakadismaya.”
With this new twist, Que said that the Dragons may just use Belasco as a trade bait for a younger but promising player.
12 comments:
dapat ang mga fil am me mga bahay dito sa pinas. amg mga maarte wag palaruin. ang daming tunay na pinoy dyan nawawalan ng trabaho dahil sa mga fil ams kuno.
ang aarte lahat naka condo. puro temporary. dapat me residense dito kung dito. ewan ko ba naman bakit kinukunsinti yan.
ang arte ni belasco eh wala namang hatak sa fans yan. wag na palaruin yan.
According to an SMC insider, the reason why Belasco was traded by San Miguel to Alaska was because of his attitude. A lot of observers have noted that Belasco seems to be arguing a lot with the coaching staff. When Alaska got him, it was their turn to observe Belasco's "true colors". Welcoat was a sucker to have agreed to this trade.
at the end of the day, mukang alaska parin ang win-win sa trade na nangyari... wala pa akong nakitang trade ng aces na nadehado sila...
iba talaga pag ang team na to ang nakipagdeal.. :P
joaqui trillo is not one of the best team managers in the business for nothing. ang alam ko lang na deal na medyo dehado sila is yong Alaska-Tanduay trade involving the Aces' first round draft pick for Earl Sonny Alvarado. pero hindi naman napakinabangan ng husto ng Tanduay dahil napatunayan na fil-sham si alvarado!
looks like Artadi got his wish. He is now with Ginebra.
haven't heard of it. i doubt purefoods releases artadi for free. sister teams cannot transact directly. artadi's contract will only expire on sept 15. if purefoods does not elect to re-sign him, non-smc teams will have the right to sign him to a contract before smc teams. ginebra, if it wishes to sign up artadi will have to wait until artadi clears the waivers (i think 10 days)
Artadi to Ginebra? I think that's an overkill for the Gin Kings, Artadi was used sparingly with Purefoods what more for Ginebra? The logical choice for Artadi is to sign up with Welcoat, his former team in the PBL where he will earn his playing minutes.
Welcoat may seem to be the logical choice, but I wouldn't sign him for more than 2 years. With his jumpshot (or lack of it) and the quality of incoming point guards in 2008 onwards, Artadi will soon be back in his usual role as back-up or worse, out of the PBA.
Artadi is a marginal talent at best relying mostly on his hustle and speed. His inability to consistently hit the open jump shot is the main reason why he can't get the minutes he wants. He is a bane to himself and to his teammates (who gets double teamed by his man) on offense.
Remember Yoyong Martirez? All steals and nothing else.
the point guard crop in the coming drafts are really awesome. consider this: pong escobal, bon2x custodio, marcy arellano, james martinez, jason castro, fil-ams kevin dalafu, james francisco, adrian sosa, jeff dosado, julius cumlat, amir mazarei, michael palarca, among others
Post a Comment