TNT to test young Rice as import

MANILA, Philippines - NBA legend Glen Rice’s son Glen Jr. arrived in Manila early yesterday morning and will be tested by TNT KaTropa as a possible import replacement for Michael Craig in the PBA Governors Cup. If TNT takes a chance on Rice, Craig could be placed on the reserve list to keep the option of reactivation open. Craig’s contract with TNT expires on Aug. 20.

A TNT team official said nothing is final on the import situation which will still be sorted out. Rice’s arrival is more like an insurance policy. “We will assess Rice’s condition,” said the official. Another team official confirmed that TNT is exploring different options before a decision is made.

Rice, 26, played in 16 games with the Washington Wizards over two NBA seasons, averaging 2.7 points. He was the Philadelphia 76ers second round pick in the 2013 NBA draft and has suited up as an import in El Salvador and Mexico. In 2014, Rice was the NBA Summer League MVP. 

Rice saw action in three seasons with the Georgia Tech varsity, raising his scoring clip every year from 5.4 to 12.8 to 13 until his dismissal. In the course of his collegiate career, Rice was suspended thrice, once for involvement in a shooting incident in an Atlanta nightclub. He was also canned for unloading a firearm while driving under the influence of alcohol. In 2015, Rice was shot in the leg during an altercation in Atlanta and was arrested for reckless conduct and possession of 240.4 grams of marijuana. Last February, he was locked up for punching a bouncer in a Miami nightclub.

While his off-the-court misadventures were a taint on his image, his reputation as a basketball player is solid. This season, Rice averaged 24.5 points, 8.3 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 2.3 steals in 51 games with Halcones de Ciudad Obregon in the Mexican league. 

Craig, 26, is the conference’s shortest import at 6-2 3/4. With Craig in harness, TNT has registered a 2-1 record. In TNT’s 97-91 loss to San Miguel Beer, Craig was held to 16 points. 

While TNT is undecided on an import switch, Rain Or Shine coach Caloy Garcia said yesterday the Elasto Painters have sacked James Weatherspoon after the team lost two in a row following a conference-opening win over GlobalPort. Weatherspoon left town last Saturday and has been replaced by bullish 240-pound J’Nathan Bullock of Cleveland State. Bullock arrived last Sunday morning.

“Bullock is much more versatile than Weatherspoon,” said Garcia. “Weatherspoon is more athletic, though. But Bullock looks more experienced and so far, he has been impressive in practice. He’s strong because I guess, he played football. If you watch his videos, he looks like Arizona Reid.”

Garcia said Rain Or Shine recently made moves to readjust its roster because of Jay Washington’s hamstring injury and the uncertainty of not knowing how long Raymond Almazan and Gabe Norwood will play with Gilas. The Elasto Painters traded Jeff Chan to Phoenix for Mark Borboran and a draft pick then dealt Mike Tolomia to Meralco for Ed Daquioag. 

“We had to make it happen because J-Wash is down with an injury then we don’t know if Raymond and Gabe will be missing more games with Gilas,” said Garcia. “That’s why we also got Daquioag so we have young wings.”

Bullock, 30, has a rich history of playing overseas with stints in Australia, Belgium, Iceland, Finland, Israel and Iraq. This season, he averaged 15.8 points and 7.6 rebounds with Pyrinto Tempere in the Finnish Korisliiga. At Cleveland State, Bullock improved his scoring clip every year from 11.3 to 13.3 to 14.8 to 15.2. He was often double and triple-teamed with the Vikings varsity at either the three or four spots.

“Bullock’s more comfortable at the three but we used him at the four, too,” said Cleveland State coach Gary Waters. “What people don’t realize is that in his freshman year, he couldn’t move four or five feet from the basket but as a junior, he almost led us in three-pointers. Half of his game was going outside. He played a lot of four and we played four out. He wasn’t exclusively on the block where he could be double or triple-teamed. He really worked on his game to be able to do some things on the perimeter.”