ANTIPOLO CITY - Solomon Mercado’s homecoming at GlobalPort was something he would rather forget.
With only one day to practice with the new-look GlobalPort squad since swapping teams once again with Alex Cabagnot, Mercado admitted he found himself in a very awkward situation as he tried to fit in during the Batang Pier's do-or-die match against Ginebra on Friday night.
The unsettled guard said he was at a loss on what to do as he played his first game for the team that looked very different from the side he played for over a year ago.
“I don’t really know the system,” Mercado told sportswriters, shortly after GlobalPort - now coached by Eric Gonzales - took a swift playoff exit following a 95-78 beating at the hands of Ginebra.
"And it’s not about difficult time adjusting. Everybody wants me to come over here, take it out on Ginebra and shoot all the time, but if I do that, everything these guys worked for, I’ll just come and mess that up."
The 6-foot-1 guard scored nine points, grabbed four rebounds and issued three assists in 22-minute stint on the floor, but it was obvious that he was clueless on how to play under Gonzales’ system.
Since Mercado got traded to San Miguel before the start of last season’s Commissioner’s Cup, Terrence Romeo and big man Kelly Nabong were the only holdovers left at GlobalPort.
“I had one practice with them (Batang Pier). There were only two guys that were on my original team (last season) so it’s a whole new group when I was here,” said Mercado.
[See Pal Gabe Norwood left perplexed by SMB decision to trade Sol Mercado]
But on a positive note, the 30-year-old Mercado believes the future is bright for the three-year-old GlobalPort franchise, considering that it has two rising PBA stars in Romeo and Stanley Pringle, along with rookie Anthony Semerad.
“They had the best point guard in the league in Stanley. Then they got Terrence, guys that are young, hungry guys and they play hard,” said Mercado.
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