Apparently, the San Miguel Beermen’s faith in Jabari Narcis was shortlived.
The Beermen, currently eighth in the standings at 4-4, has decided to part ways with Narcis, bringing in his stead G League veteran Malik Pope. The 6-foot-10 American is San Miguel’s fourth import in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup and will be looked upon to jumpstart the team’s flickering campaign. He follows the footsteps of Quincy Miller, Torren Jones, and Narcis, who was 1-2 in his three games in the PBA.
San Miguel coach Leo Austria previously said he was expecting Narcis to “figure it out” and “step up” changed his tune on Wednesday after the Beermen lost to Hong Kong Eastern in EASL action.
“Let’s see in the next few days if there’s somebody who will play for us,” said Austria after the Eastern loss, where Narcis played only seven minutes and went scoreless.
Who Is Malik Pope?
Pope played US NCAA Division 1 hoops for the San Diego State Aztecs from 2014 to 2018. He played 125 games in his four-stint with the Aztecs and started 69 of them. He finished his collegiate career with per-game norms of 8.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.0 assist, and 0.9 block on 46% shooting from the field. He was particularly superb in his senior year, averaging 12.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks in 32 starts.
The then 21-year-old Pope declared for the 2018 NBA Draft but went undrafted. He played overseas instead, starting his pro career for the Greek squad PAOK BC. He also played for Rostock Seawolves at the German ProA League and the Caribbean Storm Islands of the Colombian League. In between, Pope had stints with different teams in the NBA G League.
Pope last saw meaningful action at the Estonian-Latvian Basketball League, where he played 26 games for Utilitas Rapla. He averaged 11.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.0 steal, and 1.3 blocks.
What Malik Pope Might Bring to San Miguel
Pope is built like the modern power forward—long, lean, and athletic—and plays like it, using his athleticism to finish strong in the paint but with a decent enough touch from the perimeter. In fact, Pope made 92 of his 241 three-point attempts for a respectable 38% clip from downtown in college.
From the looks of it, San Miguel seems to be getting an upgraded version of Narcis—an athletic finisher inside with a better face up game and the ability to hit the occasional three. This is the same skill set Narcis was supposed to bring to San Miguel but was unable to showcase in his three games in the PBA.
Still, it appears Pope does some of his best work in the paint, either through post-ups or hard drives. At the very least, Pope has shown he can hit the trey ball, which would prove useful when he plays next to eight-time PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo.
The 28-year-old Pope will be thrown right into the fire in his first game as San Miguel takes on the Meralco Bolts later tonight at Candon City Arena in Ilocos Sur.
