New blood for Batang Pier

Loving the hustle of Mandani and co.

Finally. Though PBA neophytes GlobalPort Batang Pier are currently languishing at the bottom of the Philippine Cup standings with a 1-4 record, there's a lot of excitement in the air for Coach Glen Capacio et.al. because of the youth and excitement they're bringing into the games as of late.

At the forefront is old reliable, 2x PBA Most Valuable Player Willie Miller defying father time and even making up for the absence of last year's MVP bride's maid Gary David. Though it took a game or two for Coach Glen to figure it out, it was pretty obvious that Miller as a team player is a better fit for the Batang Pier squad rather than mainstay and team owner Mikee Romero's so-called "franchise player" David simply because he does more (when he's motivated and not running on dead legs).

He can play the point and find guys, he can lead the break, he rebounds and of course, is always a go-to, clutch scorer. David is a streaky volume shooter who plays better defense than Miller (though not all the time) but pretty much zaps his team's chances of winning when he's off his game (which he was in their debut).

Then there's the three young guns: Josh Vanlandingham a.k.a. Alex Compton's half-Pinoy brother (I kid, but there are facial similarities), rookies Jason Deutchman and AJ Mandani.

Vanlandingham surprises me the most because he plays almost like former Batang Pier (then Powerade Tigers) small forward Sean Anthony only with better range. He's a blue collar player who can provide both offense and defense just like in veteran teammate's Will Antonio's mold.

Then there's Deutchman-- who didn't even play heavy minutes not until the second half of Batang Pier's first game who, and we don't agree with Quinito Henson a lot but just this once, is a REVELATION. This guy is as solid as advertied and we weren't far off when we said that he could either be Mike Holper 2.0 or Danny Seigle 2.0.

We'll take it easy on the "Baby Seigle" part because "Dynamite" has better handles than the San Diego alumnus. But the Holper part, on a good day, isn't that far off. Duetchman, a 6"6 guard in the US, is looking more and more comfortable with his role in Batang Pier as that hybrid forward who helps spread the floor for teammates.  This is big because he allows Miller to create all sorts of opportunities for the team because not only is he usually bigger than the guy guarding him, but he has kickout range to boot.

Also, playing the small/power forward position in the PBA allows Deutchman to not put a lot of stress on his knees/ ankles/ feet as he's had problems with it in the past while playing in the US.

That leaves us with... Mandani.

This kid is the new Denok Miranda, but with more offense created by his amazing forward and side-to-side foot speed. Okay, Miranda is the headier point guard, but having Mandani on the floor rather than teammate Rudy Lingganay gives Batang Pier defensive teeth. Miller handles the ball and takes care of orchestrating and scoring, Mandani complements him (hi Petron!) by doing or shining at the things the veteran isn't able to do (anymore at least; such as blitzing to the rim or playing betlog-tight D).

Now that we've covered the new "leader" and his troika of young guns, there's still Rabeh Al Hussaini sitting, pouting and doing all sorts of unnecessary, attention-seeking shenanigans on and off the floor. When he's mind is on the game, Al Hussaini gives this team so much teeth be it on offense or defense. He spreads the floor with his 15-17 ft Js, he can bang inside, he has the body to rebound.

He. Just. Doesn't. Do. It. Enough.

Or at the very least, his head is just not in the game whenever the ball isn't thrown his way (which, on a team that features David and Miller, is 90% of the time).

We propose that the minute Japeth Aguilar sets foot on Philippine soil, that Romero should just cut his losses and trade BOTH Gary David AND Rabeh Al Hussaini for Aguilar and some parts (provided that Aguilar ditches his diva act). What do you think?

Anyway, back from fantasy land, we love the fight that Batang Pier has and expect this team to improve even further-- say by next conference when they can probably get their hands on a solid import (like a traditional center who rebounds like a beast and just lets them run the floor).