True to form: BMeg advances to Commish Cup Finals

The Llamados benefited from Caguioa's absence, yes,
but this writer argues that even with Caguioa
the Kings would've still lost

The second the KKS Vince McMahon of the PBA was rumored to have met with future Hall of Fame head coach Tim Cone to discuss the possibility of bringing the American's talents to the San Miguel  fold, it was but a matter of time until both were rewarded with repetitive deep playoff runs (and quite possibly, titles one after the other).

In the Philippine Cup, the BMeg Llamados won mostly on talent rather than teamwork. Guys were coming out big, playing to their strengths while slowly adapting to Cone's intricate Triangle Offense. When that wasn't working, Cone decided to work on another facet of the Llamados' uber-talented roster: defense.



And boy, did they play the stingiest of defenses. They came up short in their first try (losing to the rising Powerade Tigers), but fans knew that everyone else was on borrowed time.

A couple of trades and releases later, the Llamados were back in the groove of things despite fielding in the Commissioner's Cup's youngest (and quite inexperienced) reinforcement in 6"10 Denzel Bowles and relying solely on their perimeter guys for scoring. With Bowles providing a steady inside presence who's not exactly a superstar, but fits the Cone-mold for role playing imports, the Llamados were able to win games not only behind James Yap and PJ Simon, but also with newfound defensive anchor Marc Pingris.

We only say newfound of course for Cone's sake. For all his titles and experience, it sure took him a while to figure out Pingris' revolutionary approach to the game of basketball.

The Ginebra series was but a bleep really, since they were going up against a team that didn't have it's best player on the floor AND had a shrimp for an import. Daresay the Llamados were really tested during the Quarterfinals, when they had to radically alter their defensive approach just to stop Mac Cardona, Sol Mercado and the rest of the hungry Meralco Bolts.

Is this team good enough to battle the winner of the Talk 'n' Text-Barako Bull series? Yes. They can play physical, they can play smart. All the tools are there, and it's only a matter of time before they truly dominate the field as the new gem on the San Miguel crown.