KKS Pinoy Cup All Stars

Two of the best.

While everyone's favorite local basketball league is on break and building up for the Commissioner's Cup, KKS would like to pay tribute to the top guys who carried their teams much to the delight of their employers and fans. The Philippine Cup gave fans all over more reason to watch the games (live even) with the emergence of new and younger talents (and not just on the SMART Gilas front at that).

Without further adieu, here's KKS Starting 5 followed by the reserves-- guys who can easily suit up (if allowed by their respective teams) for SMART Gilas 2.0 (if both MVP and SMC camps are still playing fair by then given their history and the circumstances).

The starters

PG Alex Cabagnot - Petron (league leader with 6.87 assists per game)
Mr Clutch/ Crunchman/ Cool Whip/ KKS' Captain Crunch made a huge case for "Best PG in the land" (before reigning MVP veteran Jimmy Alapag reclaimed his throne in the semis almost to say "not yet, kid") and evolved into a surprisingly clutch (believe me, he was nowhere this clutch back with Santa Lucia or Coca Cola) point guard who doesn't mind attacking the rim when it presents itself. Future looks bright for Petron with Cabagnot at the helm-- who has proven to be quite durable over the years.

SG Gary David - Powerade (league leader with 25.79 points per game)
Best Player of the Conference. Mico Halili's El Granada. KKS' Bataan Bomber. You pick which monicker sounds fresher/iller/nastier. No explanations needed for BPC.

SF James Yap - BMeg
Enjoying what is arguably his most efficient performance to date (including the 2x MVP years), Yap found a sense of purpose under new BMeg head coach Tim Cone. No longer the predictable, isolation heavy player of years passed, Yap looked to be more comfortable playing without the ball and was often in constant motion. Yes, there are still days when he comes out gunning a little too much, looking for superstar calls and just standing idly by at the 3 point line, but they are soon becoming few and far between. What's scary is, Cone and the BMeg management seem to be building a 90s Chicago Bulls type of team with Yap as MJ, new recruit JC Intal to play Pip, Joe DeVance as Toni Kukoc and Marc Pingris as Dennis Rodman. X-factor will be the continued development of rookie Mark Barroca, and where his game fits in the scheme of things.

PF Arwind Santos - Petron
So he disappeared in the semis versus Talk 'n' Text and lost his "alpha dog" tag to teammate Cabagnot. But there's still no doubt that pound for pound, Santos remains to be the league's best and most complete player-- ever. This conference, he moved back to his natural power forward spot where he brought back flashes of his FEU days (read: what Calvin Abueva is now for San Sebastian). Is he still on track for that elusive MVP title where he almost always finishes second? Of course he is, but he'll have to bounce back in a big way for Petron next conference.

C Jay-R Reyes - Alaska
His team failed to get anywhere under new coach Joel Banal, but there's no denying that the Philippine Cup was Reyes' "coming out" party. The skillset has always been there, it was just the way Reyes approached the game that has kept him from rising within the power forward ranks. Sonny Thoss is a workhorse, but not as gifted offensively. Reyes provides the Aces with interior scoring much like Kerby Raymundo did for Purefood years back (thus, KKS' Kerby 2.0 monicker for the ex-UP center) and also comes up big on the boards as well. If he keeps this up, Alaska is looking at a great Twin Tower combination that could trump Santa Lucia's Marlou Aquino and Dennis Espino pairing years back (in the sense that, both Reyes and Thoss are hard-working young men).

The back-ups

PG JVee Casio, PG L.A. Tenorio, SG Jeffrei Chan, SG Mark Caguioa, SF Chris Lutz, SF Marcio Lassiter, PF Gabby Espinas, PF JayR Quinahan, C Doug Kramer, C Sonny Thoss