CHICAGO - it looks like another import in the ongoing PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup will bite the dust.
Five days after Converge sidelined Kylor Kelley in lieu of Donovan Smith, Phoenix is also angling for a late replacement.
READ ROS rookie Jun Roque out for the season due to ACL tear
James Dickey III is on a burning hot seat.
“He would have already been fired after Sunday’s game,” multiple team sources told me last night.
NOT SO FAST.
Fortunately for Dickey, his planned termination was averted by the difficulty of finding a substitute on extremely short notice.
But with the Fuelmasters needing to win at least two of their last three elimination-round games to hold off Magnolia or Converge for a quarterfinals berth, the switch option will remain on the table, I was told.
The organization’s recent unhappiness over the 6-foot-10 American stems from his unavailability during Sunday’s crucial match-up versus the FiberXers.
The Fuelmasters eventually lost that encounter by 27 points.
FIGHTING ADVERSITY
While no one is questioning Dickey’s ankle sprain, doubts were raised over his commitment to the team given that some players soldier through this type of injury.
By no means does Phoenix want an injured player to play hurt but the belief is that a sprain can be managed without risking further injury.
This is the second time Phoenix has mulled replacing Dickey.
The first time occurred in the Easter Sunday game last April 5 against NLEX, a loss where the 29-year-old North Carolina native had a tepid 13 points and 14 rebounds with four turnovers and five fouls.
Undrafted in the 2020 NBA Draft, Dickey immediately embarked on an international pro career that took him to Hungary, Germany, Israel, Ukraine, France and Indonesia.
This year, the close friend of Ginebra legend Justin Brownlee took his act to the PBA as the franchise’s first import under coach Charles Tiu.
Sadly so, his tenure now appears to be in peril.
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