The Casino Ethyl Alcohol-Cebu City Sharks were officially presented to the public on Tuesday afternoon at the Robinson’s Fuente. / CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON
Cebu City just might be getting what it has been clamoring for as the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) is eyeing to add more home games for the Casino Ethyl Alcohol-Cebu City Sharks here in the Queen City of the South.
This was revealed by the league’s head of operations, Zaldy Realubit, himself no stranger to the local basketball scene after suiting up for the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) and Mama’s Love in his heyday.
“According to the initial agreement, only one home game will be given this season to the teams from the south. However, a lot of teams have already approached me and let me know of their intentions to travel to and play in Cebu City if the opportunity presents itself,” said the native of Nasipit, Agusan.
“So we might be looking at an additional two more home games for Cebu City. I will talk to Senator Manny (Pacquiao) about this when I get back to Manila.”
Sharks launching
Realubit was in town for the official launch of the Sharks. Also gracing the festivities were MPBL assistant commissioner, Satar Macantal, Cebu City Councilor, Jerry Guardo, Cebu City Sharks team manager, Mark Castillo, team consultant Jesus Yuson and IPI Head of Innovations, Kyle Wong.
The Sharks’ 18-man team is a mix of veteran ex-pros and up-and-coming locals. The team is being led by former pros Cesar Catli, Jondan Salvador, Erick Rodriguez and Patrick Cabahug, who has apparently changed his mind and is indeed playing for his hometown after initially committing to play for Zamboanga.
Also on the squad is former Adamson Falcon Mark Abadia, Francisco Arong Jr., Alfred Codilla, Harold Cortes, Enrico John Llanto, John Lloyd Luz Jr., William Bill McCaloney Jr., Victor Nunez, Rhaffy Octobre, Ceasar Ian Ortega, Garciano Puerto Jr., John Abad, Iron Suano and Kevin Villafranca.
Head coach, Gilbert Castillo, mentioned that his squad is slowly rounding into form heading to their first tune-up game on Wednesday morning against the USJ-R Jaguars.
“I can assure you, this team is going to be very competitive,” said the former San Miguel forward.
The team is looking to have some more tune-up games against local squads here before moving their training camp to Manila on May 28.