Barako Bull wants massive buildup for PBA's 36th season

One need not to be a genius to figure out that Barako Bull (formerly Barako Coffee) is composed of a rag-tag team made up of discards from other squads. From top to bottom, the Energy Drinkers look like one depleted team battling for survival. Time to reorganize. Barako Bull team owner George Chua gave the assurance that the Energy Drinkers will parade a more competitive lineup in the Philippine Basketball Association's 36th season. "I asked our management and coaching staff to look for players from other teams," said Chua late Wednesday night during a simple get-together at his office in Antipolo City. "We'll come up with a more competitive line up in the 36th season." Without a first-round pick in the coming Annual Rookie Draft, Barako is looking at the free agency market in shoring up their roster. Half of the team have expiring contracts and Chua believes getting players from other teams is the best thing to do for them to come up with an improved roster next season. "We don’t have a first-round draft choice. We only have second-round picks," said Chua. "So, the best alternative is to look for players from other teams." Curiously, Barako Bull is known for getting big steals from the Rookie Draft. "Some of our players who were snared from the draft and became superstars were Cyrus Baguio, Enrico Villanueva and Larry Fonacier among others," said Chua. "Baguio and Fonacier were chosen in the second round." But the coming Rookie Draft this August is expected to become one of the shallowest cast in years and teams are not that so excited in tabbing players from the lot. Management, coaching staff need retooling Even the Barako Bull management and coaching staff need some retooling, too, according to the former PBA Executive of the Year Chua. The Energy Drinkers, who were a consistent fixture in the semifinals for the past eight years, have suddenly found themselves struggling the last two seasons. Chua attributed that to the departure of his key personnel – from the coaching staff to the management. "Usually, the team is being ran by four people – coach Yeng Guiao, Andy Jao and the late Tony Chua. When you lose all of them, it will definitely hurt the team's direction," said Chua. "A lot of people thought it's because of the players who left the team, but the truth is, these three people are essential for our team’s success." Guiao, who won three titles for the Energy Drinkers, left the squad two seasons ago and is now handling Burger King/Air21. Chua died at the height of typhoon Ondoy last year while Jao also left the squad early this season, leaving the team owner to fill the vacuum left by these three key individuals. Now, Chua wants to reorganize even the coaching staff and the front office as well. "We want additional personnel in the coaching staff to help coach Junel Baculi, assistant coach Mon Celis and consultant Leo Isaac. As for the management, Raffy Casiao is now helping me more while we haven't discussed yet the situation of team manager Jay Llanos," he added. - JVP/Rey Joble, GMANews.TV