Bulls see better finish with new recruits, name

Source: By Nelson Beltran (The Philippine Star)

MANILA, Philippines - Barako Bull acquired four new players and changed its coach and team’s name in a bid to regain its old glory in the PBA.

The team will be known as Barako Energy Coffee as it looks to redeem itself from a poor showing in the recent Philippine Cup, hopeful of making a good run in the 2010 PBA Fiesta Conference which kicks off Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum.

The Energy Coffee Masters, now under coach Junel Baculi with four new recruits in Rob Wainwright, Jerwin Gaco, Al Vergara and Christian Coronel and with import Sammy Monroe, play the Sta. Lucia Realtors in the opening game.

Barako Energy Coffee also sees action in the next playdate on Wednesday as it battles Coca-Cola, also at the Big Dome.

“With the changes we’ve had, we look forward to a highly competitive campaign in the coming PBA tourney,” said team owner George Chua.

“We’re raring to improve on our poor showing in the recent Philippine Cup, determined to make good on the playing court and make an impact for the brand Barako Energy Coffee which we’re introducing to the public,” Chua said.

Chua also expressed gratitude to the Harbour Centre of Mikee Romero for their sponsorship deal for the duration of the season.

Yousif Aljamal, Rob Reyes, Gilbert Lao, Jojo Duncil, Aris Dimaunahan, Leo Najorda, Ogie Menor, Chad Alonzo and Ryan Faundo have been kept in the lineup of the team which has high expectation on import Monroe, a 6-5 1/16 forward out of Newberry U with a recent stint with the Austin Toros in the NBA Developmental League.

Monroe is a tremendous dunker, who smashed a backboard in the D-League.

He played one season at Newberry after spending first two years at Clinton Junior College in South Carolina and Tallahassee Community College in Florida.

He led Tallahassee in rebounding (6.5 rpg) and blocked shots (1.0 bpg) while ranking second in scoring (14.2 ppg) in 2005-06. He scored 20 or more points six times and posted four double-doubles.

At Clinton JC in 2003-04, he averaged 17 points, earned Second Team Region X honors while helping the team to a 22-10 record and a conference championship.

At the moment, only Raymond Celis is officially listed as assistant coach. The team is expected to name Louie Alas also as assistant coach in the next few days.

“We assure the PBA fans that our team will come out and give its best effort in each game we play. We intend to relive our winning tradition,” said Raffy Casyao, the team’s alternate representative to the PBA board.

The team joined the league as an expansion franchise in 2000 and has since won three championships.

Through the 2008-09 season, the team had a .536 winning performance (with 247 wins against 214 losses), better than the records of Coca-Cola (.504), Purefoods (.500), Ginebra (.482), Talk n Text (.469), Burger King (.469), Sta. Lucia (.455) and Rain or Shine (.314).

Then known as the Red Bull Barakos, the team nailed a championship right on its second year of participation in the league, ruling the 2001 Commissioner’s Cup under the tutelage of coach Yeng Guiao.

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