No Signal for Mighty Mouse, The Doctor

Will the real Ranidel please stand-up?

This series could've easily been at 2-0 in favor of the Talk 'n' Text Tropang Texters right now if only two of the Texters top 3 one-on-one scorers lived to expectations. Two games in, and Texters fans are still waiting for reigning PBA Most Valuable Player Jimmy "Mighty Mouse" Alapag and best damn big man in the business, The KKS Doctor, Ranidel de Ocampo to make their presence felt.

How else could you explain their abysmal showing thus far-- being terribly outplayed by their counterparts on the BMeg Llamados' front- Josh Urbiztondo and Marc Pingris?



Urbiztondo will never be an elite PBA level point guard because he lacks the court vision and passing skills. Fortunately for him, Llamados head coach Tim Cone and the Llamados' faithful, Urbiztondo doesn't even bother to try to be one. He knows his role on the floor- bring the ball down, look for James Yap or PJ Simon and wait for the kick out pass so he can shoot his patented Fireball deep threes. That, or he simply brings the ball down and calls his number outright.

No need for fancy dribbling or passes, just plain dribble and shoot. Shoot, shoot, shoot. And so far, Urbiztondo has been knocking them down and making Alapag look old. Retirement (which in PBA land translates to going into commentary) old.

Another nuisance for Alapag is the fact that the Llamados are using 6"0 shooting guard PJ Simon as a big point guard. Again, the game is simplified by Cone for Simon-- he's there to call his own number, or get it to Yap or Denzel Bowles. Simple basketball. No need for sets or rotations, just bring the ball down and go. When Simon isn't busy up top, he's usually in the paint burying Alapag with back-to-the-basket moves teammate Yap could only dream of having (another chink in Mico Halili's "Man with the Million Moves" armor that no one talks about).

For Alapag to recover, he needs to come out firing in the next three to five games. Enough of trying to distribute the ball since Jayson Castro doesn't really need any help on that end, and this other guy that we're about to talk about is having problems of his own.

Pound for pound, there's no other player that has the same skill set as the European basketball-playing style of Ranidel de Ocampo. He's arguably the best in the business when you put all of his skills together on a chart against every single PBA player.

The problem with the KKS Doctor is, he has the game only he doesn't bring it all the time. And against a tenacious bloodhound like Marc Pingris who can pretty much lockdown anyone from L.A. Tenorio, Mac Cardona to bigs, RDO's lackadaisical approach just won't cut it.

Take time off from every play to watch the RDO-Pingris match-up and you'd see RDO trying to simply back his way in the paint while Pingris moves all over the place, scattering/ scrambling to get better defensive position to deny entry passes and being locked in the paint. The only way RDO has scored in this series so far is when he troops to the three point line and bombs away. Fortunately for him, he's a pretty solid three point shooter. Still, relying on Js and long balls will never win you a basketball title (hell, even Dirk Nowitzki had to learn to play closer to the hoop before he got his ring last year).

So far, Pingris has been guarding RDO one-on-one with frontline partner Bowles concentrating on Texters import Donnel Harvey. This should serve as a wake-up call for RDO, since he's bound to be the starting PF for the SMART Gilas 2 team. He should assert himself first exclusively in the post much like how Ali Peek did in the second half of Game 2 and show Pingris who's boss.

That, or he should take a seat and play reliever to Peek who showed that even coming off an injury, he's a handful for any Llamados defender no matter how tall they are.