NorthPort wants to pick Fran Yu, but…
Despite his coaching history with Fran Yu, NorthPort coach Bonnie Tan admitted there’s only a small chance the Letran Knight will be able to play for the Batang Pier in the PBA’s regular season.
Tan said that NorthPort’s team’s priority is securing big men from the PBA Draft to boost their frontcourt.
“Bigs ang hinahanap ng team kaya iyun ang talagang tinitingan namin,” said Tan on the PBA website.
The Batang Pier owns the rights to the Nos. 5 and 11 picks overall.
Tan, the former head coach of NCCA champion Letran, said NorthPort lost the much-needed ceiling after the exits of Greg Slaughter and Troy Rike.
“Kaya forced kaming kumuha talaga ng mga natural centers,” added Tan. “Of course, nandiyan na sina (Prince) Caperal at Christian (Balagasay), pero kulang pa dahil si JM (Calma) more of a forward talaga.”
But Tan said they might still be able to get Yu if he remains available in the third round of the PBA Draft.
“Si Fran, kung walang kukuha, baka ma-draft natin sa third round,” added Tan. Kasi, we don’t have any second-round picks.”
He said Yu might just address their lack of point guards.
“Hindi lang si Berto (Bolick) ang nawala sa amin kundi pati si Roi (Sumang), kaya butas din kami sa point guard,” Tan pointed out. “Sina (Paul) Zamar, Joshua Munzon, mga combo guards talaga mga iyon so kailangan din sana namin si Fran.”
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