Ramos named new mentor of Air21 Express

COACH Bong Ramos will be coaching again straight away not with the Barracudas though after the Filipino was named as the new mentor of Air21 Express in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) as reported by GMA News TV.

The 50-year-old is set to make his second stint as a PBA head coach having managed the FedEx Express squad in the 2004-2005 season before the franchise changed its name to Air21.

Ramos, who was a former Coach of the Year in the Indonesian Basketball League, will succeed Yeng Guiao, who has moved to Rain or Shine Elasto Painters as the new head coach.

Ramos was chosen among a list of candidates that included Junel Baculi, Leo Austria, Boyet Fernandez and Air21 team manager Allan Gregorio.

The former assistant coach for the Barangay Ginebra and Talk 'N Text returned to the Philippines on Monday after the Barracudas failed to reach the postseason of the Asean Basketball League (ABL) for the second straight year.

The Barracudas managed to end their season on a high with an 87-73 victory over the KL Dragons on Saturday but it was too little too late as they finished off the season at the bottom of the six-team table with a 4-11 win-loss record.

The former Indonesia national coach had led the Barracudas to a 6-9 record in the inaugural season of the ABL and just missing out on a playoffs spot.

However, he wasn't given a second stint for Brunei's first professional basketball team but made a return after the Barracudas started off the season 0-3.

His return on October 23 immediately sparked an impressive 87-70 triumph over Satria Muda BritAma at the BritAma Arena in Jakarta.The Brunei Times