There will be a guest team in the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup, and it will be the Macau Black Knights again. Only this time, Macau will go by the moniker Giant Pandas as they hope to improve on their performance from the midseason tourney.
The Black Knights—err, Giant Pandas—will be bannered by the same core of Jenning Leung, Damian Chong Qui, Phoenix Shackelford, and Ray Cao. However, Leung, who grew up in Laguna here in the Philippines, will be available only in August, according to veteran scribe Quinito Henson, as he has a prior commitment to play in another league.
That makes the addition of guard Kobey Lam quite timely. Lam, one of the standout guards of former PBA Commissioner’s Cup guest team Bay Area Dragons, will be reinforcing the Giant Pandas and will add much‑needed firepower to a team that often faltered late in games last conference. The 6‑foot‑3 guard helped the Dragons reach the Finals in their lone conference, losing to Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in seven games.
Giant Pandas Enlist De’Vondre Perry as Import
Lam won’t be the only reinforcement for the Giant Pandas, as Macau has brought in the well‑traveled De’Vondre Perry as the team’s import.
Perry starred for the Temple University Owls from 2017 to 2021 before transferring to the University of Albany for a fifth year in the US NCAA. He went undrafted in the 2022 NBA Draft and has since embarked on an eventful international career highlighted by stints in Belgium and the Dominican Republic. Most of his international career, though, has been spent in Germany’s ProA League, where he initially suited up for the Artland Dragons.
In his most recent stint in Germany, Perry played for the SBB Baskets Wolmirstedt and put up 12.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.
Leung’s Absence Could Be Big Blow
The addition of a budding star in Lam and an in‑his‑prime reinforcement should make the Giant Pandas a lot more competitive this time around. On paper, in fact, they should be better than last conference’s squad that began with a five‑game losing streak and finished at 3‑9.
However, losing Leung to start the tournament could throw a fork into the Giant Pandas’ plan of gaining redemption. After all, he was arguably the team’s second‑best player in the Commissioner’s Cup, putting up 19.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 5.4 assists, and 2.3 steals.
Even so, Macau will be coming into the season‑ending tourney with some confidence, as it went 3‑4 last conference after that nightmarish 0‑5 start. With a better idea of the Philippine brand of hoops, hopefully a more productive import, and a battle‑tested guard coming in, the Giant Pandas appear poised nonetheless to do better in their second PBA go‑round.
