As the former Philippine Cup champions are facing a total of five losses in the 2019 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup, the San Miguel Beermen have decided to rid of import Charles Rhodes, replacing the Oklahoma-native with former National Basketball Association (NBA) pro Chris McCullough.
SMB team manager Gee Abanilla explained, “We give a lot of respect to Charles for his effort and sacrifices but because of our 2-5 record, we feel that we should change our approach and try something new.”
Despite Rhodes averaging 26 points and 13 rebounds per game for SMB, the management believes that he lacked leadership during their recent defeats against the Magnolia Hotshots and Columbian Dyip. The former Best Import awardee struggled with 23 turnovers during their last match.
Twenty-four-year-old McCullough will first see action on Friday, July 5 at the Mall of Asia Arena, as the Beermen try to improve their 10th-place standing with a win against the NLEX Road Warriors.
First practicing with his new team last Wednesday, July 3, he shares that he is “just coming in with a lot of energy,” stated, “I came ready to play and be focused. And play with a chip on my shoulder and ready to win games. I’m not focusing on expectations right now. I’m just coming to play basketball you know, just win games.”
The Syracuse alum was the first-round pick of the Brooklyn Nets in the 2015 NBA rookie draft, playing two seasons with the team before being traded into the Washington Wizards. He has also formerly participated in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and the Puerto Rican pro-league.
SMB head coach Leo Austria also believes that the management’s decision to replace Rhodes “was a good move” because “the team’s morale improved,” explaining, “It’s a sense of urgency for us. We’re not panicking because we’ve been through to a lot of situations like this.” He added, “We are going to fight with whatever we have, and do a good job at it. We do know that team management does not want to lose, just like us. It just depends on how Coach Leo reads our situation.”