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| He shoots. They follow. |
What uniform he'll be donning by next season is up in the air, but this we all know for sure-- he'll definitely be suiting up for PILIPINAS this coming FIBA Asia tournament. He will also be expected to provide the outside shooting opposite Smart Gilas 2 teammate Jeffrei Chan of the Rain or Shine. Now, the thing that has grown bothersome/ tiresome really is some fans perception of David as being a glorified ballhog. To the point that they've made fun of Mico Halili's "El Granada" moniker and changed it to "El Buwaya."
Yes, there are times wherein David hurts his team more than he helps by simply throwing up shots whenever and wherever-- but the guy has paid his dues to earn such respect from his coaches and peers.
This writer agrees that all the leeway that he's given is a little too much.
Make or miss, there are no quantifiable "bad shots" for David and his Powerade head coach Bo Perasol does little or nothing to correct it. You really can't blame a guy for trying, better to go down fighting than to shy away from the limelight-- a.k.a. choke in the clutch.
But who would you rather take half of David's in-game shots? The rookie JVee Casio who is solid on all fronts but is still learning to play the PBA point guard brand on the fly under a coach who's not really known for developing players from the ground up (unlike, say, a Norman Black, Chot Reyes or Tim Cone). When Marcio Lassiter was on board, David wasn't the "El Buwaya" that people painted him to be. He was the team's best and most consistent shooter, he makes shots even against "kikiskis betlog" defense (as ROS' Ryan Arana was once quoted on saying by the magnetic Snow Badua) so him taking up about 60% of his team's offense sounds logical.
If he were on loaded teams such as Petron or Talk 'n' Text, then maybe, he needs to reconsider and pick his spots on the floor. Otherwise, shoot away gunslinger. Shoot away.
Now that we've established David as a scorer first, second and last, let's go back to the LeBron James and why his presence has made it difficult for today's fans to appreciate old school scorers such as David, Meralco's MacMac Cardona (pasensya na boss, hindi talaga ko masasanay sa Mark. Tsaka, paki balik ung high socks, headband at #17 na din) and even Ginebra's Mark Caguioa (who was a straight up scorer first, but once his team was loaded-- learned to pass or wait for bossom buddy Jayjay Helterbrand to give him his looks).
In case you've been living under a rock since 2003, James' is the world's best all-around basketball player bar none. Kobe Bryant is great, Dwyane Wade, Kevin Durant and whoever. Yes, they all are. But no one brings it all together like James. From scoring, defense, rebounds to assists (a staple in today's stats-happy world).
That's why Arwind Santos is getting all the love this side of Southeast Asia. Same with stretch fours or versatile wings such as Jay Washington, Gabe Norwood and even rising Dylan Ababou. They do a lot of things on the floor that help teams win. They're not locks to drop 40 points a night, but a 10-5-5 stat line plus a couple of 50-50 hustle plays? That's priceless and something we geeks drool over (10-5-5, yes, it's nowhere near LeBron's 25-6-6 but hey, this is the Philippines, we'll get there someday).
When people see David doing what he is born and bred to do since Day One, they see him as a ballhog in the mold of an Allen Iverson. They forget that even the immortal Michael Jordan, during the course of his 5x MVPs, 6x NBA champion run-- was taking abour 30 to 35 shots a night in the Finals. With teammates such as Scottie Pippen, Toni Kukoc and so on at one point or another. No one called him a ballhog. They recognized his desire. The hunger. The fight. The "win at all costs" mentality.
But most of all, Magic and Larry were over the hill and couldn't drop their usual all around efforts night in and night out.
What do fans expect David to do? To suddenly shift into a wannabe all around player who dishes out 4 to 6 assists and gets 3 or 4 rebounds? This is currently what BMeg star James Yap is going through under coach Tim Cone. Transforming his game and moving better without the basketball and looking for ways to make plays outside of scoring.
But Yap is a 3x PBA champion and 2x MVP who was blessed to have been part of a winning organization since he entered the league. He's also 4 years younger than David and has reaped not only being a great player, but also of having the right connections.
David, 34, may not win a PBA title with his current team unless the basketball Gods smile upon him and he gets traded to Team MVP/SMC OR Mikee Romero buys into the PBA and forms a superteam. He's pushing, fighting, scratching, clawing. His team needs him to be the gunner, to take the last shot and to rise above all the criticisms. Should he change his game? No. Not at this point in his career. He's an assassin, a hired gun, teams with elite coaches and point guards would froth at the mouth to have him as an option on the floor.
The guy's a shooting guard. SHOOTING being the operative word.
Personally, this writer has played with guys who are scorers like David on several occasions. They're not ballhogs, we just cede the offense to them because they have the higher chances of scoring. This allows me, a fleet-footed yet under-developed 6"0 post man to concentrate on crashing the boards, setting screens that would make Beau Belga approve and just help on team defense. Ditto with my teammates.
Like my uncle always says:
Ung malakas mang alaska ng player, tumatawag ng buwaya at kung ano ano, yun ung mga hindi marunong at naglalaro ng basketball sa liga.
amen...
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