Rain or Shine brings in Nick Evans as additional import for Jones Cup campaign

The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters are bringing in Nick Evans as a second import for when they compete in the 2023 William Jones Cup slated from August 12 to 20 in Taipei, Taiwan.

The 6-foot-10 Evans will join naturalized player Ange Kouame in the frontcourt as the annual tournament returns after a three-year hiatus due to pandemic.

“Nung nakita namin 'yung lineup ng teams and 'yung makakalaban namin doon, malakas 'yung competition. So management decided to bring in another import," Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao said during his guesting at the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum on Tuesday.

"We will have Ange Kouame and itong si Nick Evans, who’s coming in siguro by Saturday or Sunday to join us."

("When we saw the lineup of the other teams that we'll face there, we saw it was strong competition. So management decided to bring in another import... We will have Ange Koume and Nick Evan, who's coming in maybe by Saturday or Sunday to join us.")

Evans had stints in Japan, Colombia, Thailand, and Lebanon as the Elasto Painters look to defend the country's title after Mighty Sports rule the tourney back in 2019 before the league was halted by COVID-19.

Nine teams will see action in this year's Jones Cup edition with national teams from Iran, Qatar, UAE, and Taipei leading the field alongside the Japan U-20 team, a US team represented by the University of California-Irvine, and reigning KBL (Korean Basketball League) and EASL (East Asia Super League) champion Anyang KGC.

“Tignan natin, baka makapag-compete tayo. (But) we’ll represent the country the best way we can," Guiao added.

("We'll see, we might be able to compete. But we'll represent the country the best way we can.")

—Bea Micaller/JMB, GMA Integrated News