Determined to win an unprecedented fifth straight Philippine Cup title, reigning champion San Miguel Beer (SMB) resumed training camp early before the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season opens on 13 January.
But one key addition is missing as Terrence Romeo, recently acquired though a trade, did not join the team practice at the Acropolis Gym.
Team management expects Romeo to appear today, though.
Romeo was the center of off-season dealings following a rare trade between rival teams Talk ‘N Text (TNT) and SMB late December.
The KaTropa sent the 26-year-old Romeo to the Beermen in exchange for David Semerad, Brian Heruela and future draft picks, adding to an already stacked SMB squad which is gunning for a historic fifth straight All-Filipino Conference championship.
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Despite delay in his SMB arrival, head coach Leo Austria was all smiles with a new and big addition to his squad. “We already talked through phone. He is upbeat about this new beginning,” Austria told Daily Tribune.
Austria also admitted being puzzled by the TNT offer for Romeo, the three-time scoring champion.
“Upon discussion, we decided to give (the deal) a go. He has the talent and every team needs a talent like Romeo’s. He will be a big addition for us,” Austria added.
“And it does not matter if he’s a starter or not. We already talked about it. He is just excited to give everything and help in any way he can,” he said.
Aside from Romeo, also a no-show at SMB practice was Christian Standhardinger who was given an extended break. Standhardinger played non-stop basketball in 2018.
Prior to his Beermen stint, the Filipino-German Standhardinger first played with Hong Kong in the Asean Basketball League aside from several outings with the Philippine men’s national basketball team in the 18th Asian Games and the ongoing 2019 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers.
In lieu of Romeo and Standhardinger, four-time Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo led SMB’s first day of training with other veterans Chris Ross, Alex Cabagnot, Arwind Santos and Marcio Lassiter.
