DON Carlos Allado feels right at home with Purefoods.
Although he once played for the franchise for three seasons, it was more his reunion with coach Tim Cone that has made the early-season free-agent pick-up immediately comfortable after joining the Hotshots.
“I’m home because I started with Tim Cone,” Allado told Spin.ph after his debut game for the Hotshots this season on Sunday, which unfortunately ended in an 80-87 loss to San Miguel Beer in the PBA Philippine Cup.
With sophomore forward Ian Sangalang already out for the next six to eight months due to a partial tear on his ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) the meniscus (MCL), Cone decided to bring Allado in to fill the void in the Purefoods frontline.
Allado, who played limited minutes with Meralco last season, decided against joining one of the expansion teams during the preseason and kept himself busy doing television work as an analyst in NCAA games - until the call from Cone came.
The 6-foot-5 Allado actually spent the first seven years of his pro career under Cone when the two were still with Alaska from 1999 to 2006.
His stay with the Aces produced two championships, something that makes him hopeful as he looks to contribute to the Hotshots' quest for a fifth straight crown in the All-Filipino Cup.
“Hopefully, we can win another championship. I feel great because I took care of my body and I feel good. Di na masyado nahirapan legs ko because I lost 20 pounds,” he added, citing he applied some of the conditioning techniques of NBA greats Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade during the offseason.
“Coach gave me some opportunity tonight,” said Allado, who grabbed two rebounds and issued an assist in close to 15 minutes of play.
“I just really want to get my feet under me, settle myself again in the game. But I need to get in my timing,” added the 37-year-old back-up big man from La Salle.
Allado said his transition this season won’t be difficult anymore, since he’s learned to play the triangle system of Cone at Alaska.
“I know the system of coach already and that’s my advantage. It’s just my timing that I need to get better at,” said Allado.
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