San Miguel bringing back Boatwright as replacement for ‘unprofessional’ Patton

MANILA, Philippines – Help, a proven one, is coming for San Miguel.

The Beermen are in the process of bringing back Bennie Boatwright as a replacement import in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup following the surprise no-show of Justin Patton.

Patton did not show up on Sunday, April 12, and left San Miguel fielding an all-Filipino roster in a 120-101 loss to Magnolia. 

“We’re waiting for Boatwright. Maybe he’ll be there next game,” said Beermen head coach Leo Austria in a mix of Filipino and English.

Austria called Patton “unprofessional” as the former NBA player failed to inform the team of his absence, with the Beermen only finding out an hour before the game that he was not playing.

Patton, Austria said, also did not participate in the team’s last three practices.

Without the 6-foot-11 Patton, the Beermen dropped to their fourth loss in seven games as Hotshots import Clint Chapman dominated to the tune of 34 points on 10-of-14 shooting to go with 6 rebounds and 3 blocks.

“I don’t know what his consequences will be because he’s unprofessional,” said Austria. 

“Nobody could stop Chapman. In terms of size, we had no one to match up with him. That’s why we’re very frustrated with what happened.” 

Patton averaged 18.3 points, 17.0 rebounds, 2.0 steals, and 1.0 block in the three games he played in, helping San Miguel win back-to-back games against the Macau Black Knights and Barangay Ginebra before they lost to league-leading Rain or Shine.

That defeat, as it turned out, was Patton’s last game.

While the Beermen bid goodbye to the promising Patton, they are welcoming back a familiar face in Boatwright who knows what it takes to lead the team to a championship.

Boatwright also came in as a replacement in the 2023-24 edition and went on to power San Miguel to the title. 

A candidate for Gilas Pilipinas naturalization, Boatwright is coming off a stint with the Daegu KOGAS Pegasus in the Korean Basketball League. 

“We keep on communicating with him,” said Austria of Boatwright. – Rappler.com