Every man for himself

Where'd this guy go?

The Petron Blaze Boosters finally looked like a team on the floor last night, dominating the hapless Barako Bull Energy Cola 98-89 and just running and executing under neophyte "coach" Olsen Racela.

Leading the way were Chris Lutz, Alex Cabagnot and Arwind Santos who all appeared to strive under the transition game. Lutz, who topscored for the Boosters with 22, was his usual "silent assassin" self-- getting to his spots on the floor and just letting the game come to him. Why Mico Halili et. al. hasn't tagged him as the PBA's "The Natural" ala the NBA's Brandon Roy, we'll leave to them.

Santos also bounced back from an abysmal first game against Rain or Shine while Cabagnot provided the heroics and closing efforts when the Boosters opted to take its collective "foot off the gas" so to speak and allowed the Colas to come back in the 4th quarter.
If there's anything to learn from this game for the Boosters, then it's the simple fact that they should do like their sister team Ginebra: loosen the reins, spread the floor and run like hell from all angles. Forget about June Mar Fajardo's development into the "big man of the future," this team was and is assembled to run. Whatever Fajardo does on offense should be considered a bonus for now since he's still learning the PBA game, he should stick to rebounding (finished with 7 rebounds versus the burly Colas frontline) and just setting screens for his slashers.

What's even more bothersome than Fajardo's expected struggles, is the state of one Jay Washington. One game he looks like the PBA Best Player of the Conference he so deservingly won long ago, the next he looks like the current state of another San Miguel alum Danny Seigle. You'd think that he'd be a huge part of yesterday's running game, but he couldn't have looked more lost on the floor than he did. Slow it down and he either floats around the three point arc or just waits for a pass down low for easy twos.

Is he still hurting? Has he always been this way? Did we over-estimate Washington (not this writer, but let's just go with "we" for now)?

For the Boosters project to work, "coach" Olsen needs to figure out who should be his true power forward-- the defensive gem Santos who is a sure fire double-figure rebounder, or the offensive ace Washington who could either drop a near triple double/ lay an egg? They also need to play "free." RUN and GUN all day, all night. They have the athletes to do so, even more than Ginebra's, so why the hell not?

Another thing that the Boosters may want to focus on is to try and develop is having a mid-range game. Other than Lutz (and a sparingly used Jojo Duncil) really plays the mid-range game. It's either they're planted down low, or just wait and jack up for threes. It's what separates the good teams from the great ones, and once the Boosters are able to develop this option, they'd be unstoppable and the game made a lot easier for their guys.