SAN Miguel resumes its campaign in the PBA Governors' Cup with renewed vigor as Orlando Johnson is set to take over from where Brandon Brown left off.
Johnson arrived in the country before the New Year, but didn't get to join the Beermen in an official scrimmage until Feb. 1 when teams were finally allowed to conduct 5-on-5 scrimmages following the recent decline in COVID-19 cases.
The 32-year-old Johnson, who suited up for Barangay Ginebra in the 2015 edition of the Governors' Cup, is certainly the focus of the team right now as it tries to bring him in right away within the Beermen's system.
Team manager Gee Abanilla said the shooting guard, who had stints with Indiana, Sacramento, New Orleans, and Phoenix in the NBA, has been idle in his first month back in the country as team practices were prohibited when COVID-19 cases suddenly surged following the holiday break.
"So ang tagal din niyang hindi nakapag-laro, nakapag-practice, kaya yung una niyang labas para siyang nakawala sa hawla," said the San Miguel official.
Until San Miguel management decided on its own to stop at the moment the small group workouts allowed at the height of Alert Level 3, Abanilla was able to see Johnson do some drills with the cluster of San Miguel players he belonged.
"Nakapag-practice siya sa amin ng individual groups. So nakita ko na rin," said the San Miguel team manager. "Wala pa siyang legs noon (jetlag), pero shooter pa rin."
A product of Loyola Marymount and UC Santa Barbara, Johnson averaged 33.7 points and 11.3 rebounds during his stint with Ginebra seven years ago.
He carried the Kings in the playoffs, but lost in the first round against Romeo Travis and the Alaska Aces.
Now he comes over and try to take the Beermen's campaign a notch higher following the exit of Brown (23.4 points, 12.6 rebounds, and 5.0 rebounds), who managed to steer the team to a 3-2 record prior to the break. (RG) (PBA)