Struggling Tigers want shakeup, trade rookie Ross for Mendoza

One by one, Sta. Lucia is losing the core of its All-Filipino champion team. Veteran Dennis Espino, cerebral quarterback Denok Miranda, firebrand guard Joseph Yeo and marquee players former most valuable player Kelly Williams and former rookie of the year Ryan Reyes, had already found themselves playing elsewhere. Add Paolo Mendoza, a member of the Realtors' two championship-winning teams, as the latest player to go. Mendoza, a 5-foot-11 guard from University of the Philippines, is headed to Coca-Cola in exchange for rookie guard Chris Ross. But unlike in previous deals, Sta. Lucia isn't the one which initiated such trade. "We want to shake things up and we want immediate results, which is why, we want to get Paolo (Mendoza) who is more of a scoring guard," Coca-Cola coach Bo Perasol told GMANews.TV in a telephone interview. "It's not because we don’t want Chris Ross, but we want a quick change in our fortunes. Ross has a lot of potential, but we want the potential to happen now." Perasol added that the deal has yet to be formalized but is already agreed in principle. He has also sought the approval of Coca-Cola team manager and board governor JB Baylon regarding the move. "I'm going to meet with Atty. Ariel Magno (Thursday) so we can sign the papers and have it approved by the PBA," added Perasol, whose team suffered its sixth straight loss and fell to 4-7 after a 3-0 start. Aside from the need of a scoring guard, Perasol explained that the team’s guard rotation also became shallow as Marvin Cruz suffered an injury. The departure of Mendoza, who was also instrumental in the Realtors’ first-ever championship in 2001, means that only veteran Marlou Aquino, Bitoy Omolon and Dennis Daa are the only remaining holdovers of Sta. Lucia’s 2007-2008 All-Filipino champion squad. - JVP/Rey Joble, GMANews.TV