Enter The Rainman

           In a draft-night trade that netted the Tigers a Fil-Canadian forward Sean Anthony, the Tigers also acquired sweet-shooting Ren-Ren Ritualo, a 6'1'' veteran guard who can virtually shoot the lights out of Araneta.

Last season, my biggest rant was how badly the team needed a steady scoring support for ace guard Gary David. Asi, who although was still a beast in the boards, was no longer putting up huge numbers offensively. Mark Macapagal is capable of having strong scoring nights, but lacks consistency. So it was basically Gary David from start to finish. Which is the reason why at some games, David seems to lose power at the end part of the ballgame. He needed support. He badly needed support.

Enter the Rainman.

Drafted 8th over-all in the 2002 draft by the Fedex Express (now Air21), Ritualo put up solid numbers in his rookie year, averaging 12.3 points and hitting 58 3-pointers en route to being named as Rookie of the Year. He also won as Sixth Man of the Year and Mr. Quality Minutes in the same year. Because of his amazing shooting prowess from behind-the-arc, people started labeling him as the 2nd coming of Allan Caidic, who is arguably the best shooter in Philippine basketball history.

Renren Ritualo reached the peak of his career in the 2005-2006 season, wherein he averaged 18.4 points, and scored 40 points in a 2006 semifinal game against Purefoods. Ritualo, was also the first local player in PBA history to have four games in a career with at least eight three pointers in each of those games.

He was then traded to the Talk 'N Text Phone Pals, where his role was reduced from being the main man to that of a designated shooter off the bench, playing behind rising star and fellow DLSU alumnus, Mac Cardona. It was in Talk N' Text that Ritualo eventually won his 1st PBA title. Just last year, he was traded again back to the team that drafted him, the Air21 Express, where he then played behind another rising star and former Tiger prodigy, Ronjay Buenafe.

Now, Ren-Ren will be joining the Powerade Tigers, and will be reunited with coach Bo Perasol, who handled Ren-Ren before in Air21 and knows his abilities and strengths. Ren-Ren may be playing behind Gary David this time, who ironically was his back-up back in their Air21 days, but expect Ritualo to have a significant role in the team's campaign for next season. He will be providing a much needed firepower off the bench, something that the team sorely needed last season. He can also serve as a shooting mentor to Powerade's younger shooters, Francis Allera, Jai Reyes, and RJ Rizada.

Gary David now have a reliable aid in scoring, and we can expect Powerade's roar to be much more louder next season.

Welcome the newest Tiger, Ren-Ren "The Rainman" Ritualo!



Roar Out.