Pass the torch: Cardona is no longer The Franchise

Two scorers with so-so D
will always spoil the broth

As much as it pains this writer to come to terms with this sad and undeniable reality, there's just no other way around it. For the Meralco Bolts to continue building on the success that they currently enjoy (breaking into the semifinals after six conferences), they need to shift the offense away from "franchise player" Mac Cardona.

When Team Manny V. Pangilinan bought out the Santa Lucia Realtors, Cardona was immediately sent from mother team Talk 'n' Text Tropang Texters to headline the Bolts. After all, he was the one guy that people either loved or hated with such passion-- someone who magnetized and captivated fans by his sheer passion for the game. That, plus he tends to be an island all to himself-- needing to dominate the basketball which oftentimes alienated teammates and reduced big names such as the mighty Jimmy Alapag to mere spectators.

Under Head Coach Ryan Gregorio, it seemed as though Cardona was destined to breakthrough the glass ceiling and join the Mark Caguioa-James Yap-Dondon Hontiveros conversation of elite guards (Gary David was also going under the radar prior to this season's awesome scoring display). Sadly, Cardona didn't have the teammates, and was jacking up shots like a madman escaped from prison. Once the Bolts' management recognized the need to surround him with better players, they did so by bringing in another big time scorer in Sol Mercado praying that the odd pairing would work.

We all know what happens next: Cardona and Mercado often struggle when asked to play together, with one guy deferring and unable to move freely in fear of getting in the scoring/ driving lane of the other. To their credit, Cardona has been trying to work from the corners while Mercado is up top, but this ploy has yet to become consistently fruitful for all parties involved.

Don't get me wrong here, I'm not saying Cardona's time in the sun is up or that his game is not at par with the elite guards in the league-- it still is. Daresay he's one of the tougher covers at his position and that teams are often forced to go with cross matches to keep him under lock and key.

The real problem here is that, for the Bolts to win, the franchise tag-- the alpha male role, needs to be passed on to Mercado.

Despite being largely inconsistent (as opposed to Cardona who may miss 10 shots in succession but will always be credited for playing with all heart and tenacity), Mercado has the size, speed and skill to excel at SG while keeping his other teammates involved because of his PG passing abilities. This is something that Cardona lacks, much like DLSU buddy Joseph Yeo. One-on-one, he's arguably Top 3 or 4. In a team game, against structured and well disciplined defenses, he's efficiency goes down which is hurt even more because of his lack of court vision.

Mercado on the other hand, is an excellent drive and kick player. With Chris Ross handling point guard chores, maybe a Mark Borboran or Mark Macapagal as his kick-out option at the wing, Reynel Hugnatan/ JayR Reyes as a high post four and Asi Taulava on the block-- Mercado can pretty much get away with murder and look every bit like the star he is built to be.

He has the handles, dribble drive, streaky three-ball and the kamikaze go to move that sucks in defenses and opens things up for his teammates. Being an international PG by trade, you just know Mercado is bound to make good (not great) reads and find the open guy.

Cardona? He's an assassin by nature, get out of his way and let him score-- great if you're on a so-so team that needs a superstar to pull teammates out of the gutter and lengthy scoring drouts (which is what David is doing at Powerade), not so much when you're on a team that has three or four guys who could easily be plugged in to any other PBA team's starting five.

Coach Ryan is correct in starting Cardona and bringing in Mercado-- doesn't really matter who starts, as long as both guys are not in each other's way. But maybe, just maybe, it's time to reassess the whole situation and recognize their overall strengths (Mercado as the go-to-guy) and weaknesses (Cardona's need to have the ball at all times while his teammates watch).