WHEN the PBA was about to cancel the Governors' Cup game between San Miguel Beer and Macau Giant Pandas last August 8 in Ynares Montalban due to a leaking roof, both teams refused and said they did not want another playdate.
The Giant Pandas were especially insistent on playing on.
The reason, according to sources, was that four of the team's players - Damian Chongqui, Ramon Cao, Jenning Leung, and import DeVondre Perry - will no longer be with the team after the game.
SOURCES SAY Woeful Macau Giant Pandas wear out welcome in PBA
"Last game na kasi nila kaya gusto nila ituloy na yung laro," a person privy to the situation told SPIN.ph about the game back then.
When it was eventually played after stadium staff cleaned up the mess, the Beermen won the game by a mile, 131-79.
True enough, Chongqui, Leung, Perry, and Cao are gone from the Giant Pandas' lineup once the season-ending conference resumes this Wednesday.
Chongqui and Leung have since hooked up with Macao Hou Chon in the East Asia Super League (EASL), while Cao returned to Hong Kong Eastern, also in the EASL.
Meanwhile, the Giant Pandas are down in the standings of Group A in the EASL with a 2-6 record and on the verge of getting eliminated for the second straight conference.
Incidentally, taking over the spot of Perry as Macau import is Oscar Lopez, a product of DePaul and played as one of Cambodia's five naturalized players during the 32nd Southeast Asian Games.
With its naturalized players, Cambodia beat the Philippines during the elimination phase, but Gilas extracted reedemption by winning the finals.- Gerry Ramos
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