The Purefoods-Star Hotshots is scheduled for a head-to-head game against the Talk ‘N Text KaTropa Texters at 7:00 P.M. on May 10, 2017 in Mall of Asia Arena.
Both teams are having identical records with 6-2 in the ongoing 2017 PBA Commissioner’s Cup. Hotshots and the KaTropa are chasing the league leaders for the twice-to-beat position race.
Despite missing the services of Jayson Castro, Troy Rosario and Roger Pogoy, three of its key players to Gilas Pilipinas. Talk ‘N Text was still able to beat San Miguel and gave the current 2017 PBA Philippine Cup champ its first taste of loss this conference.
Donte Green was impressive in that game who delivered 41 points along with his 21 rebounds. He was backed up by Larry Fonacier and Kelly Williams who scored 14 points and 15 points respectively.
However, in tonight’s ball-game Fonacier will no longer be in TNT uniform as he was part of the four-team trade. KaTropa gets Anthony Semarad and a 2017 first round pick in return.
The last time TNT traded a player for a future first round pick resulted good for them. That elusive third pick turned out to be Jayson Castro in 2008 PBA Draft who is dubbed as the best point guard in Asia.
Star on the other hand will be also missing the services of Allein Maliksi and Jio Jalalon who are both bound for the 2017 SEABA Championships tournament.
Also, there is a major move in the Hotshots roster lately. They have shipped back Tony Mitchell and welcomed back Ricardo Ratliffe.
Mitchell helped Star to achieve 6-2 win-loss record this conference but he is always prone for being foul trouble. Although Coach Chito Victolero denied that this is the reason why he got replaced.
“We have no problem whatsoever with Tony. Talaga lang first choice namin si Ratliffe at hinintay lang namin matapos ang commitment niya sa Korea,” said Victolero.
Ratliffe helped Star to get back into contention in last year’s Commissioner’s Cup and ended up as an eight seed. They faced the mighty San Miguel Beermen in the Quarterfinals round but fell short to beat a twice-to-beat team.