WIN some, lose some.
While NLEX may have lost a gem in Calvin Oftana, it gained in return a prize big man in Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser.
New coach Frankie Lim was still not on board when the three-team trade among TNT, Blackwater, and NLEX that sent Oftana to the Tropang Giga, Troy Rosario to the Bossing, and Ganuelas-Rosser to the Road Warriors took place.
READ: Brandon Rosser focuses on defense as NLEX switches systems
But while others may have scoffed at the deal, Lim believes the Road Warriors weren’t shortchanged in the trade.
“Yun na lang si Brandon eh, mahuhulaan mo bang mapupunta sa amin yan? E, maraming nagsasabi sa akin na, 'You know, dinala si Oftana sa TNT.' Ang sabi ko naman, 'Alam n'yo ba kung sino napunta sa amin? Si Brandon,'” said the 62-year-old Lim.
Oftana was the second leading scorer of the Road Warriors when the rising sophomore was traded to the Tropang Giga.
But in Rosser, Lim said the team acquired a legitimate big that plays in the low blocks more than the stretch 4 Oftana was.
“Ang malaki ko lang si (Mike) Miranda and si (Justine) Chua. Kahit andiyan si Oftana, walang laman yung bigs ko,” said the NLEX coach.
“So 'yung dating ni Brandon was a blessing,” he added. “And now meron akong Brandon, meron akong import (Earl Clark). And andiyan si Miranda, andiyan si Chua, then I have four. Maganda na rotation ko sa bigs.”
The 28-year-old Rosser, the year’s No. 1 overall draft pick, showed what he can exactly bring to the table for the Road Warriors in his first game with the team against Rain or Shine, a 96-90 win in their debut outing in the Commissioner’s Cup.
The younger brother of TNT’s Matt Ganuelas-Rosser scored just four points but grabbed 10 rebounds and had a career-high five blocks in 20 minutes of play given him by interim coach Adonis Tierra.
Lim expects even more from his young big the moment he begins calling the shots for the Road Warriors by next week.
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