FILIPINO fans missed the opportunity to see Dave Ildefonso play for the visiting Suwon KT Sonicboom following their parting of ways at the end of the last Korean Basketball League season.
The Sonicboom are currently in the country for the tipoff of the 2024-25 season of the East Asia Super League and tangled with San Miguel Beer during Wednesday night’s opener at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The son of two-time PBA MVP and now Converge deputy coach Danny Ildefonso was with the Korean franchise for two years and was part of the team that finished runner-up to Hiroshima Dragonflies last season.
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But by the end of the finals, the guard out of Ateneo was released by the team.
Suwon KT coach Song Young-jin expounded on what made the Sonicboom let go of the 24-year-old Filipino.
‘He’s a good player, but he wasn’t really a good fit for our team. Unfortunately, he’s no longer with us,” explained Song through an interpreter after the team's game against San Miguel.
The team, according to the Korean coach, gave Ildefonso opportunities during his two-season stint with the franchise.
“We tried to help him a lot, tried to let him adjust to the team. We tried to give him a lot of opportunities. Obviously, he stayed two seasons,” Song recalled. “The following season he couldn’t capitalized on those opportunities.”
Following Ildefonso’s exit from the KBL, the 6-foot guard decided to apply for the PBA draft where he was selected by Northport at No. 5 overall.
Both parties though, couldn’t come to terms on a contract that Ildefonso remained unsigned until today and has yet to play his first game in Asia’s first play-for-pay league.
Incidentally, former Batang Gilas Dalph Panopio took over the spot of Ildefonso in the team, but not long after, was released by the Sonicboom apparently due to a herniated disc injury he suffered even before the new KBL season could start.
Even without the two Filipinos, the Sonicboom won their opening game in the EASL by beating the reigning PBA Commissioner’s Cup champion Beermen, 87-81.
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