NLEX wins 2nd PBADL title behind future PBA stars

Uhm, dunk ko to bro!

In what is starting to become a mirror image of the Philippine Basketball League's "dying" years where Harbour Centre was pretty much plucking collegiate players left and right on its way to several titles, the Philippine Basketball Association's Developmental League has just crowned the Manny V. Pangilinan-owned NLEX Road Warriors as its defending champions for its 2nd Aspirants' Cup.

Headlined by a powerhouse crew that could very well be the face of PBA franchises in the coming years, the Boyet Fernandez-coached Road Warriors dismantled the hard fighting Freego Jeans of coach Leo Austria that was backstopped by mostly Adamson Falcons (let this team's performance serve as stern warning to the rest of the UAAP).


On the NLEX roster are stars Ron Pascual, Ian Sangalang and Calvin Abueva of San Sebastian, Garvo Lanete and Dave Marcelo of San Beda, Emman Monfort of Ateneo, RR Garcia of FEU and the flashy-wiry Fil-Am combo of Cliff Hodge and Chris Ellis. This team is strong enough that you could easily do away with the NLEX jerseys and just have the boys wear Pilipinas' red, blue, white and yellow and we're pretty much good to go in Asian tourneys (provided we get a Marcus Douthit clone as an import of course).

This team was built to win, and it was pretty obvious given the players on the roster, the champion PBA coaching and financing that anything less would've been a huge disappointment.

From where we sit, we can pencil in future PBA stars with Cliff Hodge and Chris Ellis bound to make an impact for any professional team given their athletic prowess. 6"6 centers Dave Marcelo and Ian Sangalang are also a nice franchise centers in the making (who could very well rival Petron's Rob Reyes and Alaska's Sonny Thoss). Monfort, well, he'll be a star in the ABL at the very least (if Rudy Lingganay can make it, so can Monfort) and then there's the two guys that could prove to be tricky at best.

No monicker yet?
How about SUPERSTAR

First, there's RR Garcia, UAAP MVP.

He's been playing a lot of point guard lately, switching from his natural shooting guard position. This is probably to better prepare him for the pros where his height (somewhere around 5"10-5"11) is best suited. Right now, he's a lock to go the JVee Casio route as a set-play point guard instead of the traditional ones who can literally pull a rabbit out of nowhere at any given time. His foot speed is solid enough, same with his build but he's career, despite the individual accolades and Vice Ganda romance/rumors, has been pretty quiet at best. Think Gary David minus the 30 point scoring sprees (which he was already doing with Montana Jewels in the PBL).

Then, there's the most dominant collegiate player since PCU's Gabby Espinas (Arwind Santos wasn't putting up monstrous numbers in the amateurs, star worthy, but not monstrous) in Calvin "The Beast" Abueva.

Pinatuboy? F that. THE BEAST is here.

Fortunately for Abueva, he already has a precedent game wise. Like Espinas and another San Sebastian beast Jam Alfad, Abueva does his best work almost exclusively near the basket. He is a Pacman when it comes to rebounds on both ends, and a pitbull on defense. Tenacious, aggressive, hungry-- those are the words that best describe the Pampanga native.

Problem is, Abueva is "only" 6"3 and doesn't have the side-to-side speed or deep shooting needed to play the small forward spot. This is why NLEX coach Boyet Fernandez brings him off the bench instead of as a starter. The energy will always be there, but sometimes, they need the big boys (Marcelo, Hodge, Ellis and Sangalang) to get them started early.

Another PBA great, Arwind Santos, was able to transition his game from the shaded lane to the outside but it took a lot of work. Right now, we're seeing Abueva doing a little bit of both- still the same player on defense, but now working on other facets of his game-- making correct passes and shooting jumpers (still iffy, but better than his first year in college). To become one of the PBA's best in the future, Abueva needs to  make the biggest adjustment to his game than his NLEX peers.

Still, when your monicker is associated with destruction, dominance and aggressiveness, well, that says a lot about your chances as a basketball player.

All in all, a well deserved congratulations to the Road Warriors and the PBADL for another successful season!

P.S.

Our only gripe is that, we wish players could've been spread out in the league and not simply signed directly. This would be a challenge yes, but perhaps National Team players could be spread out in a dispersal draft rather than being jumbled together to form one giant All Star powerhouse that leaves other teams to simply jockey for the second spot. But hey, that's just our honest opinion and not something we'd actually cry over for. At least we still have an amateur league to begin with minus all the politicking and lopsided trades like the PBADL's big brother goes through on a yearly (conference, even) basis.