ANTIPOLO – Blackwater is bent on keeping Sedrick Barefield as its franchise player.
The sophomore guard's contract expires by the end of PBA Season 50, and chances of coming back for another tour of duty with the Bossing is very likely, according to coach Pat Aquino.
“As far as I’m concerned, there’s good talk already with Boss Dio (Dioceldo Sy). Maganda naman yung talks,” he said. “Hopefully, maging okay na sila.”
The Fil-Am player, who suited up for Gilas Pilipinas for the first time during the 20th Asian Games, had 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting and had three assists as Blackwater fell to Barangay Ginebra on Friday night, 101-96, and formally bowed out of contention for a berth in the PBA Governors’ Cup playoffs.
COLUMN: Is Blackwater star Sedrick Barefield worth this much?
The Bossing finished with a 3-7 record and were looking to forge a three-way tie for the No. 4 quarterfinals berth in Group B at the end of the eliminations.
But doing so meant not only beating Ginebra, but also winning by as much as 45 points against the Kings to make it.
Nonetheless, Aquino said he was proud of the way the team performed this conference as it remained in contention for the entire duration of the tournament.
Now, it’s a matter of picking up from where the Bossing left off and upgrading the team for Season 51.
At least half of the team’s core has expiring contracts though.
“Ang dami, almost half of the team,” said Aquino, mentioning the likes of Abu Tratter, Jed Mendoza, Nick Demusis, Mike Digregorio, Jack Cruz-Dumont, David Murrell, and Barefield, the No. 2 overall pick during the Season 49 draft.
“We’ll see,” added the Blackwater coach on whether the Bossing will try to retain all expiring players.
As of the moment, everything is on status quo.
“No movements as far as I’m concerned. No trade talks, no anything,” said Aquino, the most successful women’s coach in Philippine basketball history.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
