PBA: Purefoods replaces Orton as import with Bowles satisfying height limit

 

Bowles, who led the franchise to a Commissioner's Cup title in 2012 as B-Meg Llamados, measured 6-foot-8 13/16, meeting the 6-foot-9 ceiling. He is set to make his debut in the Manila Clasico on Sunday as the Hotshots take on Barangay Ginebra.

 

The development came after Orton was slapped with a P250,000.00 fine following his "disrespectful" comments towards the referees and fellow player and league coach Manny Pacquiao.

 

Purefoods suffered an embarassing 95-84 loss to expansion team Kia on Wednesday, with Orton rendered ineffective due to foul trouble. He finished with six points off a poor 1-of-7 shooting clip before getting fouled out late in the fourth.

 

Frustrated, Orton told the media that the game was a "joke," including the presence of Pacquiao as a professional basketball player.

 

Orton made his PBA debut against NLEX, picking up where stand-in import Marqus Blakely left off. He averaged 15 points and 12.7 rebounds, and 3.3 blocks for Purefoods, but led the team to only one victory in the three games he played.

 

Bowles, meanwhile, was supposed to be tapped by the Hotshots but Orton finished his stint in the Chinese league sooner than the 2012 Commissioner's Cup Best Import.

 

Bowles averaged 24.7 points, 13.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 2 blocks per game in his previous tours of duty for the team. - RAF, GMA News