Dragons battle-ready; Giants eye Cablay

By Nelson Beltran
Philippine Star
Monday, October 1, 2007

A few days after sealing a deal with Nic Belasco, the Welcoat Dragons completed their lineup for the coming 33rd PBA season by enlisting free agents Estong Ballesteros and Don Dulay.

Meanwhile, Purefoods Tender Juicy remains hopeful it can acquire Fil-Am guard Brandon Cablay from Red Bull two weeks before the opening of the new season.

Welcoat aborted its trade offer to Talk n Text involving Belasco and Yancy de Ocampo when the Dragons finally closed an P8.4-million, two-year deal with Belasco.

With Belasco having firmed up the team’s frontcourt that also features sophomore JayR Reyes and rookie Joe Devance, the Welcoat management signed up Ballesteros and Dulay to strengthen their backcourt and wing spot.

Other players in coach Leo Austria’s rotation are Denver Lopez, Jojo Tangkay, Ryan Arana, Niño Gelig, Adonis Sta. Maria, Jireh Ibanes, Froilan Baguion and Rob Wainwright.

Ballesteros, a former Barangay Ginebra King, is making a PBA comeback after being away for sometime. During his PBA hiatus, the 6-foot-2 forward had a stint as an import in the Indonesian league.

Welcoat had tried to acquire De Ocampo from Talk n Text while still having a hard time closing a deal with Belasco through his agent. The deal was terminated when the team eventually reached an agreement with the 6-foot-4 Fil-Am forward.

De Ocampo, a St. Francis of Assisi product, is among an array of stars who strutted their stuff with Welcoat in the PBL before joining the pro bandwagon.

At Purefoods, team management has become a lot more interested in Cablay with Noy Castillo re-injuring his foot in training.

Purefoods governor Rene Pardo said he’ll try to cut a trade deal with Red Bull for the services of Cablay whom the Bulls acquired as part of their deal with the San Miguel Beermen involving Rico Villanueva towards the end of the Fiesta Cup.

Red Bull may be willing to give up Cablay whom the team never used in the recently concluded preseason tourney.

Purefoods seems well headed in the right direction in the coming PBA season as the Giants ruled the preseason event, pulling off a 105-90 rout of the Beermen in the finale Friday.

“We’re the preseason champions but I think the only thing we’ve achieved is the mindset knowing that we can compete with the best of them,” said Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio.

“This didn’t translate to top-seeding in the season proper but we’re going to war with great confidence,” Gregorio added.

To Gregorio, San Miguel is still the team to beat in the 2007-08 campaign commencing Oct. 14 at the Araneta Coliseum.

“San Miguel is a super power. It has a talented roster of 15 players all starter material for the other teams. To me, they’re up there with Talk n Text with Barangay Ginebra and Alaska Milk completing the big four,” said Gregorio.