Yes and no.
This writer argues that we should keep the core players: L.A. Tenorio, Jeffrei Chan, Gabe Norwood, Ranidel de Ocampo, Marcus Douthit, Sol Mercado and Larry Fonacier (yes, Pareng Larry makes the cut as the smartest PBA player today). After those guys, we should consider looking for an upgrade. Not that they're not any good (Gary David is still The Man), but we need a deeper rotation that can be relied upon (Pilipinas has been suffering from long, mid-game lulls which we cannot afford to have against better competition). So here's a short list of the guys who should be considered for the coming FIBA tournament (if they're healthy and in game shape of course).
Kelly Williams
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| Kels should have Gabe's back come FIBA time |
Replace: Matt Rosser
Jayson Castro
David had his moments on offense (and even on a mobile phone camera post-games) but that doesn't give him a pass for all the blown defensive rotations and his knack for going under screens instead of fighting through it. Wanted to argue for David and his "clutch gene" that most players lack. You know, despite going 0/9 the entire night-- still has the balls to take (and make) the last shot without any hesitation? Well fortunately for us (unfortunately for David), we found someone just as ballsy in Castro. Faster, stronger and there's no point in arguing that Castro plays better defense than David (just ask Chris Paul-- or watch the YouTube clips). Of course, it will all still depend on how Castro's body holds up.
Replace: Gary David
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| Here comes the pain! Belga style. |
Villanueva, bless his heart, signed the Letter of Intent the minute he received it. Without any hesitation, without any BS or propaganda-- he was given the chance to play for PILIPINAS (not just SMART Gilas) and he took it. The same cannot be said for his San Miguel Corporation co-employees James Yap, Alex Cabagnot, Marc Pingris and Arwind Santos. Those "superstars" took their time and hid behind their employers to take the easy way out. Say what you will, but if Villanueva could do it, why couldn't the rest of them who were INVITED? Only a stupid, ignorant, die-hard SMC fan would argue with me and the rest of the Philippines on this one. Bravo to Villanueva for his patriotism. BUT, it still doesn't save him from being cut. Villanueva has the muscle, the spunk and the fight to play the enforcer role to a "T." He just doesn't have the size, foot-speed and range. Belga, though beefy, has always been deceptively quick (ask Japeth Aguilar a.k.a. Belga's B*tch) and is quite generous with those fouls which are in no way ticky-tack or hand-check worthy. FOUL talaga. He has post moves, shot fakes, a decent mid-range game and also a knockdown three ball. Oh, and he's 6"6 and 225+ lbs.
Replace: Rico Villanueva
Greg Slaughter/ Samigue Eman
It was hard watching Thoss fail miserably in the Jones Cup tournament. He wasn't boxing out, wasn't defending as hard and looked lost several times down the floor. He'd plant himself down low, but he'd turn the ball over because it seems that his mind is locked into just playing the "rebounder" role. There's a reason why Gabe Norwood would come in at the 4 spot and it's not simply because Coach Chot Reyes wanted to go small. It's because Thoss (and Villanueva) couldn't help the cause enough defensively that there was just no point on having them on the floor (given na yung hindi sila gano gagawa sa opensa, pero pati ba naman sa depensa?). The big man lot is pretty small (since it's clear that Team SMC won't help out and give Pilipinas, say a June Mar Fajardo) so that leaves us with Alaska's Samigue Eman (a project) and Ateneo's Greg Slaughter. Slaughter takes the cake being a more polished offensive force (and a legit seven footer), Eman has enough muscles to at least bang in the paint. They're no better than Thoss and Villanueva, but the height will surely help. That, plus we'll already (hopefully) have Kelly Williams and Ranidel de Ocampo taking care of the 4 spot. Japeth Aguilar? He's too busy wanting to play small forward.
Replace: Sonny Thoss
Garvo Lanete stays with Gilas since he's a tall shooter without any conscience. There's San Sebastian's Ron Pascual, but he's becoming more of a scorer (takes 20 or more shots a game to get 20 points) than shooter. PBA vets Jimbo Aquino and John Wilson are nice, but Aquino's not disciplined enough while Wilson may be a bit too small. Sunday Salvacion is too streaky.
Who do you think should be considered for a spot on the Pilipinas team that's headed for the FIBA-Asia tournament this September 14?
Replace Mac Baracael, Garvo Lanete, Enrico Villanueva with Kelly Williams, Jayson Castro and Jared Dillinger in the lineup. Give Sonny Thoss a 2nd chance and JR Reyes more playing time to develop his confidence. I'm also interested to see how Ryan Reyes performs in this upcoming tournament.
ReplyDeleteFinally! A peer who appreciates the pitbull-like defense, corner pocket threes and overall gulang of Ryan Reyes!
DeleteHopefully, KW and JC are healthy come FIBA Asia Championships. I don't know about Thoss boss, he looked really lost out there in the Jones Cup. As for Reyes, he needs to play-- hopefully against the weaker teams like Macau and Uzbekistan in Group A.
Dude, Sam Eman, at 30 yrs. old, is no project. He's probably hit his ceiling already (which sounds pathetic, by the way). Id rather have an unmotivated Thoss on my team any day of the week. Im excited about the thought of K-Will and Castro joining this team.
ReplyDeleteCiting those not named.
ReplyDeleteWhat about the gaggle of young Meralco bigs? Or SSC-R's Sangalang? DLSU's Norbert?
Btw, I love that the RoS crew has been basking in the spotlight. Kudos to them. Love their involvement AND commitment for flag and country.
Not a fan of the self proclaimed "The Bear" of DLSU. He looks like a Belga/ Quinahan in the making, but he doesn't go out and "get it" like dominant bigs should.
DeleteIan Sangalang<-- now there's a legit big man prospect. He can handle, has range and is a dead ringer for Wang Zhizhi. Someone teach him the kili kili shot and I'll have his picture up on this page's banner ASAP.
3 to 4 players... rosser, lanete, villanueva and/or baracael.. replaced with tnt boys, kels, jayson, jared.. ibato mo pa si ryan reyes at ipakilala kay rasheim wright!
ReplyDeleteThere are 14 players in the roster for Jones Cup, taking the 4 you've mentioned will leave them with 10 remaining so you can't include another 4 in kelly, jayson, jared and ryan because only 12 is allowed in the FIBA Asia lineup.
Deleteokay lang yun, would you rather have jay-r reyes than those 4 players? no! kahit okay yun, hilaw pa din.. isa pa, si SOL may problema ang eligibility sa FIBA, im okay with castro as our back-up.. he can attack the rim as sol does, and can shoot threes which sol cannot do often.. I'm a BMEG fan but PWE! SMC boo! just get the players that can be loaned, be effective and can play...
Deletesi japeth kelly at kraken ang pwedeng ipalit sa kanila.. nawala na ang confidence ni baracael pero mahusay pa naman sya nung gilas 1 mas depensa at tira sa tres, pero masyado syang maliit para sa 4 position kaya mas malaki sana ipalit, pwede rin si Peek kesa kay rico,, madaming pinahihirapan si peek sa pba at hgis age at mautak pa syang lumaro
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you finally gave Gabe Norwood some credit and that you're finally seeing the light. Haha!
ReplyDeleteAlways given the man credit... on the defensive end. Nice to see his offense coming along. Just need to stay aggressive-- the game is there, it's more on the mental aspect where Norwood has been a little weak. Hope he carries his Jones Cup attack mentality to the FIBA tournament.
Deleteinternational competition are big mans game, please train our big man like what china did. include fajardo, aguilar, samigue, slaughter, kelly bwilliams, and kerby raymundo in our gilas 2 line ups.
Deletesa fiba kasi big mans game, therefore include and train our big man like what china, russia and iran did. include samigue, fajardo, aguilar, slaughter, raymundo, jay washington, kelly williams in gilas 2. kailan pa tayo mag try. romel duran of zamboanga
ReplyDeleteaside from our big man like fajardo, douthit, samigue, slaughter, williams, washington, include always norwood, dillinger and lassiter, we need 6'4 or 6'5 guys that can play no. 2 & 3 position like wade and bryant. ok na yung shooter natin jeff chan, fonacier and james yap. sa point guard bring strong point guard who can penetrate also like sol mercado and caguioa.
ReplyDeletehindi masyado maganda pinakita ni thoss at de ocampo, palitan cla ni kelly williams and jay washington ksi may mobility. and train our big man like, samigue, fajardo, aguilar, slaughter and yancee de ocampo.
ReplyDeleteYan talaga ung crucial e, ung itrain sana ung mga big men natin. Si Slaughter bibigyan daw ng shooting coach. Hindi naman un ang kelangan nya, kelangan nya matuto mula sa mga tipo ni Dennis Espino, Danny Ildefonso at kahit si Beau Belga. Diskarte sa ilalim, labas siko at brusko basketball.
Delete