Troy Rosario remains to be the big boss of Blackwater despite the arrival of veteran James Yap and Rey Nambatac ahead of the Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup.
Bossing head coach Jeffrey Cariaso said the 32-year-old forward was still their go-to-guy who keyed their first two wins in the all-Filipino tournament.
Although Nambatac fired 27 points and 10 assists in their 96-93 win over Meralco, it was Rosario who provided the muscles, finishing with 15 points and four rebounds.
He delivered a fitting follow-up to that inspired performance when he delivered 20 points and six rebounds in their 87-76 upset of TNT Tropang Giga last Sunday.
So far, Rosario is leading Blackwater with 17.50 points and five rebounds in their first two games.
“He’s our vet. He’s our stud. You know he’s our main guy and he knows that,” Cariaso said.
“How we do and how we perform, and how well we do is really on his shoulders. You know there’s one or two guys on almost all the teams that will have that responsibility, and for sure under Blackwater, he is that guy.”
Cariaso insists the team will be leaning onto Rosario as they hope to go deep in the Philippine Cup to make their first ever semifinal appearance.
“He’s the man that really helps us in regards to the culture that we’re trying to build. He’s no. 1. He follows suit with that, his work ethic is tremendous. It’s beyond comparable,” Cariaso said.
“So yeah, he’s been the stud that we need him to be and he needs to continue that.”
