THE door just opened for Magnolia to have Olympian Nuni Omot come on board for the PBA 50th Season Commissioner's Cup.
Already on the Hotshots' radar prior to the second conference, Omot became available just days before the tournament, and the team lost no time in bringing in the 6-foot-9 member of the South Sudan team in lieu of Terrell Brown-Soares.
Apparently, Omot's on-court leadership is what convinced the Magnolia coaching staff led by LA Tenorio that he's the right import for them.
"Gusto naming makita if this player can fill up the spot kung saan kami kulang. We need a leader who can be aggressive on both ends of the floor," explained the mentor of their last-minute decision to get a new reinforcement.
"Nuni is a national team player, so he knows how to be a leader," noted Tenorio, who added the Baylor University product served as captain of the South Sudan unit which made its maiden Olympic foray during the 2024 Paris Games.
Initially, Omot was in Lebanon playing for the Al Riyadi Club Beirut when the war in the Middle East broke out all of a sudden.
It was the slight opening the Hotshots needed to reconsider their options despite already having brought in Brown-Soares a few weeks earlier.
"Naging available siya (Nuni) kasi nawala siya dun sa team niya sa Lebanon because of what happened," said Tenorio. "So we took our chances actually on him. Kaya nagpalit kami. He was part of the list naman talaga."
Omot will get better
The move doesn't mean, however, that Brown-Soares, four years younger than the 31-year-old Omot, wasn't good enough for Magnolia.
"Kay T, he was actually getting better already after the tuneup games. He was getting the groove already," Tenorio said. "Again, kung hindi naman siya (Nuni) dumating, we'll stick to T."
Omot debuted for 27 points and six rebounds in a 101-98 Hotshots loss to Phoenix where the import had to battle cramps and foul trouble throughout.
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Tenorio said Omot hasn't been playing since the conflict in the Middle East erupted, got sick upon arriving in Manila, and didn’t make his first official practice until the eve of their match against the Fuel Masters.
“I don’t want to make excuses. But I’m sure he’ll be better,” said the Magnolia coach of their import. “I think we can go to him. He’s a leader. Yan ang kailangan niyang ilabas sa team na ito.”
Omot plays his second game with the Hotshots on Sunday when they battle opening day winner NLEX.
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