MANILA – Blackwater Bossing has justified the pending lopsided trade that landed them veteran Jeth Troy Rosario at the expense of releasing top-overall pick Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser to NLEX Road Warriors.
According to Bossing team owner Dioceldo Sy, they wanted to acquire the 6-foot-7 Rosario three years ago but the TNT Tropang Giga only released him now that he is 30 years of age and his performance already slowed down.
“We’ve been waiting for him for a long time. Ang tagal ng gusto ng team yan (Rosario). Time pa ni Ray Parks,” Sy said in an interview with Spin.ph, pertaining to a 2019 trade that sent Bobby Ray Parks Jr. to TNT.
“Troy is a very good stretch 4 (power forward who can shoot from three-point area) who will play a major piece in the team,” he added. “Also, wala siyang attitude at mabait na bata.”
Rosario and reserve Gab Banal landed on the lap of Blackwater in a proposed trade, which is still pending at the PBA Commissioner’s Office, after sending much younger Calvin Oftana and Negrense Raul Soyud to the Tropang Giga.
The Bossing acquired both Oftana and Soyud in the first phase of the three-team, six-player swap from the Road Warriors in exchange for Ganuelas-Rosser and injured Paul Desiderio.
Sy also shared in the interview that they initially wanted Glenn Khobuntin as part of the trade instead of reserve guard Banal but the Tropang Giga refused to let go of the defensive forward.
“We wanted Glenn along with Troy Rosario but TNT shut it down,” Sy said. “The choice eventually went down between Banal and Jaydee Tungcab but they were also hesitant to let go of Jaydee.”
“Okay din naman ang team kay Gab kasi naglaro na sa Blackwater yan dati, and at the same time, pwedeng small forward ang laro niya and medyo kulang kami doon,” he added.
Banal once played for the Blackwater franchise in the East Asia Super League EASL carrying the brand IECO Green Warriors in the 2018 East Asia Super League (EASL) Terrific 12./PN
