All eyes on Cabagnot

Last conference, the San Miguel Beermen lost the Fiesta Cup title to the up-and-coming Alaska Aces despite having returning super-import Gabe Freeman at the helm. At the time, the Beermen played four of its current starting five led by point guard Alex Cabagnot.

But during the decisive moments of that series, Cabagnot often found himself sitting on the bench in lieu of guys like Denok Miranda and elder statesman Olsen Racela-- being badly outplayed by Alaska counterpart and who most of todays pundits recognize as the best point guard in the land, L.A. Tenorio.

This year, things have turned out for the better with Cabagnot receiving free reign from rookie coach Ato Agustin, and playing consistent, heavy minutes for the Beermen. While his averages are still quite modest at best (finishing the Philippine Cup elims at 8.29 ppg 4.36 rpg 5.29 apg), it has become pretty clear that SMB has found an heir apparent to Olsen Racela-- a guy who doesn't dominate the ball, simply orchestrates and when he has to, takes clutch shots for the team.




In the quarterfinals against Barangay Ginebra and "kayfabe" rival Mark Caguioa (whose records Cabagnot surpassed in Eagle Rock High School *in a longer period of time of course, which is still a tribute to MC47's scoring prowess*), Cabagnot once again rose to the occasion-- bumping up his scoring to 13.4 ppg, while grabbing 4.20 rpg  and handing out 4.20 apg. Not too shabby if you ask me, specially because the long-haired, left-handed court general was being harassed to no end by every single Gin King from Caguioa, Mike Cortez, Willie Miller to the "most annoying yet effective and he'll let you know about it" defender in the PBA, Ronald Tubid.

Tough cover really. Every time the Beermen needed a shot, Cabagnot was there to take it-- and this is why the Beermen's hopes of bringing home the Philippine Cup Finals will fall squarely on "Cool Whip's" shoulders.

From one to fourteen, the only guys who are legit shot creators on the San Miguel bench are Joseph Yeo (lightly used by Coach Ato for fear of being a tad bit uncontrollable/ unpredictable) and Dondon Hontiveros (who freelances and shies away from the spotlight these days). The team's best players, Arwind Santos and Jay Washington, are apt finishers who need to be properly set-up or given space to operate. The rest are either spot up shooters (Mick Pennisi, Sunday Salvacion), slow footed bigs (Dorian Pena, Danny Ildefonso), one dimensional point guards (Denok Miranda- half court defender, Paul Artadi- full court defender, Olsen Racela- scorer) and or whatever the hell Danny Seigle is at this point in his career.

This is also why I believe that Talk N Text will escape as champions this conference-- because they have guys who can orchestrate and create (Jimmy Alapag, Jason Castro, Jarred Dillinger, Larry Fonacier and Ryan Reyes) while SMB only has Cabagnot (Yeo is solely a scorer, Hontiveros is inconsistent).

If anything, Cabagnot has improved from when he first broke into the league as Santa Lucia's confused point guard. And while he still can't guard a peanut even if someone were to hand him an M-16, he's right up there as far as setting up his teammates and making plays on the offensive end is concerned.