San Miguel coach Leo Austria along with his coach staff during a PBA Commissioner’s Cup game. –PBA IMAGES
San Miguel Beer underwent another import switch in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup by tapping Malik Pope for Saturday’s out-of-town encounter with Meralco in Candon, Ilocos Sur.
Pope will replace Jabari Narcis for the crucial match which the Beermen hope to win in order to create separation from the Magnolia Hotshots in the race for the eighth spot in the team standings.
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The 28-year-old is San Miguel’s fourth reinforcement after Quincy Miller, Torren Jones and Narcis, a reflection of the team’s struggles in the midseason conference.
READ: PBA: San Miguel Beermen looking to wriggle out of tight spot
San Miguel, which has a 4-4 record in the Commissioner’s Cup, is also the only team without a victory in the East Asia Super League with Narcis and Jones as its recent imports.
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Pope has had stints in the NBA G-League with the Greensboro Swarm, Austin Spurs, G-League Ignite, Wisconsin Herd and Delaware Blue Coats. He also played in Greece, Germany and Estonia.
San Miguel is set to face Meralco for the first time since last year’s Philippine Cup Finals when the Bolts won in six games on Chris Newsome’s game-winning jumper.
The Beermen recently snapped a two-game skid with an 85-78 win over Magnolia at Ynares Center in Antipolo City, which turned out to be Narcis’ last PBA game.
Narcis did play, albeit sparingly, in San Miguel’s 84-74 loss to Hong Kong Eastern in the EASL last Wednesday at Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
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