The value of role players

Petron needs more guys like Pena

Another day, another mind-boggling loss for the stacked Petron Blaze Boosters this time at the unimaginable hands of the rag-tag Air21 Express. It would've been acceptable had the Boosters lost by a couple of points or on a heart-breaking play, but they were just flat-out embarrassed this afternoon by a team whose most household name is their Coach who did all his winning (at the moment) back on the college level.

Losing 97-76, the Boosters looked more erratic than awful on the court. They were trying to make the extra play, revived by the solo coaching job of one Olsen Racela, guys like Joseph Yeo and Alex Mallari appeared to have that extra pep in their steps. But they were just being outperformed by the Express which has appeared to have hit the lotto by opting to go for a more traditional set-up.

Mark Isip finished with 22 points, Rob Reyes had 17, Nino Canaleta had 12, Bitoy Omolon had 9 and Bonbon Custodio finished with 12. Four of those guys made a killing from 15 feet in. They knew were they were stronger than the Boosters and they kept going to it. Custodio had a field day just picking his spots on the floor because his bigs were making it relatively easy for him all afternoon.

Rookie Simon Atkins also had a stellar 0 point, seven assists job. Why the Boosters didn't just clamp down on the other guys and dared Atkins to win it for the Express is beyond us. That's pretty much what every single team does against an opponent with a no-J point guard. Coach Olsen and assistant Coach Gee Abanilla blew it on the defensive end.

Also, as big and as imposing a player Dorian Pena is on the floor for the Boosters, the guy is not a scorer. Never was, never will. The Boosters desperately kept trying to force-feed Pena the basketball but all the Express really needed to do (and did) is to just crowd the burly center down low into committing a turnover (which he did).

Just because someone looks like they have an advantage, doesn't mean you should keep going there 9 times out of 10. Coach Olsen should've switched tactics the third time Pena had difficulty catching and finishing against the Express' frontline.

Arwind Santos finished with his now prerequisite double-double (15 points and 14 rebounds), but he clearly struggled guarding college buddy Isip down on the block. He got him once or twice, but Isip is as good as they get with his back to the basket while Santos is more of a perimeter defender.

Right now, the Boosters badly need another big man to do the dirty work-- grab rebounds, dish out a few fouls and maybe make a jumper or two. Santos and Jay Washington can only do so much, and it doesn't take a genius to tell that Pena is not at the best physical shape to play all 48 minutes of a game.

As for the rest, they have a lot of guys who have no problems scoring the basketball-- but not a lot who'd dive for loose balls, hand out an extra elbow, set screens and so on. Santos fits that mold, but he's already busy trying to make-up for the team's lack of adequate rebounders.

Not sure if Coach Olsen's decision to start Alex Cabagnot and Joseph Yeo was a wise move either. They already lack a defensive big, so why are you going to put more pressure on your frontline with two weak defenders at the guard spots?

Sign/ trade for a rebounder who is willing to set bone-crushing picks. Shouldn't be a problem for a team like the Boosters.