I Hate Ogie Menor/ Old school Ogie

Don't hate the player, hate the game. #realtalk

Earlier in the decade, whenever the name Rogemar "Ogie" Menor was used, everyone knew who the guy was and with good reason. The then San Beda Red Cub turned Lion was known for his brilliant (and bruising) scoring ways, on-court grit and toughness plus a knack for the highly favored (among Pinoys anyway) kanto style of play.

Nowadays, Menor finds himself under attack for a renewed approach to the game on the professional level. Presently strutting his wares for the young Shopinas.com Clickers under coach Franz Pumaren, Menor now plays the role of "big brother/ enforcer" for his team. His averages, the best of his pro career with an 8.5 ppg, 5 rpg, 2 apg and 1spg clip, fail to illustrate just how important he is to the Clickers.

Big Brother


As everyone knows by now, the Clickers are at the bottom of the Philippine Cup standings with an abysmal 0-7 win-loss record. Yes, this team could've probably salvaged a game or two had it not been for end-of-game blunders, but that's where the youth factor comes in to play and where a guy like Menor (who's pretty young himself at only 25 years) is deemed valuable.

A former amateurs MVP, Menor has chosen to take a backseat to established high scoring teammates such as captain Ren Ren Ritualo, combo guard Paolo Hubalde, RJ Jazul and big man James Sena. Of the four, only Ritualo has any ounce of PBA big minutes experience and pound-for-pound, none of them have the same body type as Menor (read: the difference between a PJ Simon/ Cyrus Baguio from a Paul Lee/ Mark Caguioa).

So, while his teammates are busy pulling the trigger, Menor is contributing to his team in other ways-- primarily in having everyone's back so that they won't be intimidated by the bigger competition.

Shades of Rudy Distrito

While his scoring averages have increased, it is on the defensive end (and then some) where Menor is starting to make a name for himself (for better or worse). Seven Clickers' games into the PBA's 37th season and Menor has already managed to earn the ire and attention of Ginebra's Jayjay Helterbrand and JC Intal, Rain or Shine's coach Yeng Guiao, and the PBA Board of Governors with hard fouls, trash talking and theatrics.

This isn't like another then-despised yet quality defender, pre-Ginebra Ronald Tubid, who pretty much clowns around the hardcourt and loves to play psy-war with his opponents (but has managed to stay away from on-court fights/ brawls). We're talking Rudy Distrito on a fastbreaking Jeffrey Cariaso 90s rugged-- and we all know how that turned out for the burly Ginebra enforcer.

Personally, the whole hooliganism is entertaining to watch and would obviously generate a lot of attention not only for Menor, but for his team and the entire league as well. Hell, someone even bothered to create a Facebook Page just so they could voice their overall displeasure with the 6"2 guard from Isabela.

Draw the line
But, a line has to be drawn somewhere. First, there's no room for taunting the opposing team's bench after a made basket. Maybe it's okay to taunt/ tease your defender a bit, but not the whole bench and their fans. That just leads to unwanted post-game fights. We've seen it time and again, and for it to happen on the biggest platform this country has to offer? That's a bit too childish on Menor's part. And the PBA should follow the NBA's strict "no taunting" rule. This if professional basketball, not sports-entertainment wrestling.

As for the hard fouls, there's nothing wrong with it since the whole "Kampihan Na" era has ushered in a more physical style of PBA play-- probably in ode to the glory days of the 90s. These are grown ass men after all and can take heavy hits (as long as it's part of the game and nothing ill-meaning)-- okay, maybe everyone except Alaska's Cyrus Baguio (the guy seems allergic to physicality and isn't driving as hard as he used to).

Should the league put the cuffs on Menor? Probably not-- YET, because outside of the theatrics, he's still playing the game as hard as he can without any intention of really hurting anyone (even that foul on Helterbrand was more of JH13 being pissed that someone dared touch him rather than being hacked by Menor). If the PBA cracked down on Menor, then they should probably throw in guys like Menor's fellow Clickers' enforcer Homer Se, Barako Bulls' "elbows out" Jondan Salvador and Ginebra's Tubid.

If anyone's attention should be called, it should be the PBA's and its referees to call the games and hand out penalties/ fines as they see fit.