Wherever the dominoes may fall

Back to the PBA (?)

In case you haven’t heard, rumors are rampant that a huge coaching change is in the works that would change the fate of three of the country’s better basketball franchises namely: the UAAP’s Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles, the PBA’s  Talk ‘n’ Text Tropang Texters and the SMART Gilas Pilipinas national men’s team.

If this report bears any weight, then we’re looking at Ateneo’s Norman Black to make his long overdue PBA return before Christmas with Talk ‘n’ Text to replace “a title away from a grand slam/ basketball history” Chot Reyes. Reyes in turn will move over to call the shots for the SMART Gilas squad displacing Serbian Rajko Toroman who is credited as one of the pioneers in making Philippine basketball relevant in the Asian region once more.

From the outside looking in, you can’t really feel sorry for Ateneo because that team is bound to be coached by another high priced, high caliber guru (perhaps Olsen Racela who is already head of the Energen boy’s basketball team and an Ateneo alumna? Or one of Black’s longtime assistants?). Plus, they have a solid core featuring ace shooting guard Kiefer Ravena and perhaps another year of Greg Slaughter.

On the PBA front, Talk ‘n’ Text’s run and gun offense will change under Black who prefers traditional line-ups and set plays. This in turn would greatly benefit the other players who are lost in Chot Reyes’ “organized offensive chaos” where guards are forced to extend themselves and play out of position while sacrificing their bigs’ minutes. Also, a greater premium will be placed on the defensive end. The only problem I expect from this “grand slam” marriage is the relationship between Norman Black and Japeth Aguilar. How will Aguilar react to Black’s “old school” approach? Can Black succeed where others have failed and coerce Aguilar to grab more than 10 boards a game?

Then comes the hard part—Chot Reyes taking over SMART Gilas 2 and being tasked to lead a new and improved team to a better finish than its predecessor. First up, who knows who’ll play for Gilas 2 since the PBA has already given its word that it will create a 16-man pool for the next FIBA qualifiers? If that’s the case, then Reyes might be the right man for the job since he has practically coached most of today’s PBA All Stars at one point in their respective careers. But if he were to coach a new breed of players, then I don’t know just how good or effective he’ll be.

Give Chot a chance (?)

I recall how Reyes’ “coached” the likes of Arwind Santos in an international game. It was as simplistic and disorganized as an amateur could get. “Ikaw si Arwind Santos *expletive* pakita mo na ikaw si Arwind Santos *expletive*!” His team went on to being a loss or two from becoming the joke of all Asia, and you could even argue that Yeng Guiao did much more with what little he had when it was his turn.

From my vantage point, Reyes’ approach works on the PBA level. There’s nothing wrong with the “macho,” “gung-ho” approach but when faced against a disciplined, more complicated system, it almost always never works (think Chicago Bulls’ one man Derrick Rose show versus the all of a sudden team defense approach of the Big Three’s Miami Heat). This, in my view, is where Reyes fails as a coach. He is even credited as the guy behind our recent FIBA-Asia loss to Jordan where he tried to play hero and asked the team to change its defensive stance that ultimately blew the game open in favor of our opponents.

I guess this is the thanks Rajko Toroman gets huh? At least Ron Jacobs had it better. Though, while I sympathize with Toroman, I’ve long been arguing that the basketball team should, at the very least, be coached by a Filipino. Maybe we owe Coach Chot the benefit of the doubt. After Noli Eala's gracious turnaround in recent weeks, it seems like Chot's the new most loved/hated in the Philippine basketball front.