With Joe and Nic, no way but up for Welcoat

Malaya
October 4, 2007

Scaling the championship ladder is no easy task and perhaps nobody knows the painstaking time it takes than Welcoat co-owners Terry Que and Raymund Yu.

They know their Dragons will finally get to the top of the PBA, but not now.

"We have to lay the foundations first and that is what we're trying to do now," said Yu.

"We'll win a championship yet, but that dream is still far in the horizon," said Que.

"We'll be more competitive than last season, pero malabo pa rin ang championship," agreed head coach Leo Austria.

The three were are simply drawing from their bountiful experience in their former stint in the PBL, where their team became the favorite whipping boys in their early years before eventually evolving into a champion squad that dominated the opposition in every way possible.

The Dragons finished their initial season in the pro league with a 7-29 record. But their PBL teams had an even more agonizing start.

What is important is that Welcoat's PBA cornerstones are steadily falling into place, like the acquisition of Joe Devance from the rookie draft and getting veteran Nic Belasco through a trade.

Belasco is a winner of seven titles with San Miguel Beer and Alaska and he is expected to lend his experience and expertise to the youth-laden team that formerly only had center Jay-R Reyes as go-to guy.

But thrilling everybody on the Dragons most is Devance, who was made the top draft choice overall.

The athletic 6-foot-7 forward-center out of the University of Texas in El Paso, who once reigned as PBL MVP, gave a glimpse of his potential by scoring consecutive 30-plus point during the pre-season games, including a 38-point explosion against Asi Taulava and the Talk N Text Phone Pals in a 123-109 losing cause.

Those performances made Que and Yu believe Devance is worth every cent of his three-year P8.5 million contract.

"For sure, we will improve with the addition of Devance," Austria said.