Looking for the "Lee Stopper"

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We all know the value of defensive stoppers in the game of basketball. Some players have built a career around it, averaging no more than five points a game but still being an invaluable part of his team's rotation and game plan.

The San Mig Coffee- Rain or Shine Elastopainters cannot be weighed accordingly just because "they faced each other a few months ago in the Governor's Cup Finals which RoS won." First and foremost there's RoS' return-to-form reigning PBA Rookie of the Year Paul Lee who is looking like an elite level point guard-- a combination of Jayjay Helterbrand's IQ and Mark Caguioa's scoring smarts wrapped in a bald, baby fat-filled frame. Over at SMC, Yancy de Ocampo is putting on quite a conference thus far under Coach Tim Cone. Spending most of last season as an almost fogotten, third string center, YDO is proving his worth and showing the league that (when highly motivated) he is arguably the 2nd best game-changing big man there is (next only to younger brother Ranidel).

Lastly, and where this entry will come down to, is one Jean Marc Pingris.


There was something totally off with Pingris in the Finals which his team lost. He was being pushed out of his rebounding space, the physicality (which he normally dishes himself, Pingris is not exactly a saint out on the hard court) got to him and he even hurt himself in the last couple of games which pretty much showed how tired they were.

Not this time.

In the on going PBA Philippine Cup, Pingris looks to be right at home at the 4 spot now that they have de Ocampo at the 5 taking care of the offense and manning the paint. This allows Pingris to position himself better to get to loose balls and also concentrate on being the primary help defender for his teammates.

Though we're pretty sure that Coach Cone already has a bunch of defensive schemes to 1) limit Lee's touches and 2) force Lee to take outside shots, games are more entertaining when fans are treated to something different. Something that you don't see everyday-- say, putting defensive ace Pingris on the seemingly unstoppable Lee.

We've seen the damage Lee did to Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in their quarterfinal match-up, guarded by the talented yet diminutive L.A. Tenorio and aging Jayjay Helterbrand, scoring on all sorts of jumpers and drives. SMC doesn't appear as though they can do any better, having only Mark Barroca at PG. We'd give Barroca the edge in speed, but if Tenorio couldn't hound Lee into turning the ball over, what more a sophomore like Barroca?

PJ Simon might be asked to play big PG from time to time, but that would be disastrous for Cone. First, it would be taxing for Simon to play both offense and defense the whole game (he's the team's steady 2nd option on offense). If he could somehow break his mold of being "just" a scorer, then we'd throw our hats off to him. Personally, we'd want him to put the pressure on RoS with his scoring ways. So yeah, don't put Simon on Lee for long stretches (unless Joe DeVance is having a field day or someone else can carry the brunt of being James Yap's buddy on offense).

Jonas Villanueva is another guy you'd want to put on Lee, but he's coming off an injury and hasn't really won Coach Cone over (which is weird, considering he's the closest Cone could have to his version of a Bulls-era Ron Harper i.e. big point guard who can D up first, pass, shoot and slash second).

That leaves us with Pingris. And before you throw venom at us for raising this idea, rewind to a couple of years back when then head coach Ryan Gregorio sent Pingris to guard then Alaska Aces star Tenorio in the Finals. It was awesome to watch as Pingris showed his great footwork and hustle, shadowing Tenorio from way out and not being left behind in the dust as what happens to most bigs when they dare guard speedy, smaller players.

Think about it.

Lee isn't quick, his first step is just explosive. He uses his body to protect the basketball in getting into the rim and usually has no problems issuing the kick out pass because his defenders are usually shorter than he is. Put Pingris on him and it changes a  lot. Lee won't be able to shoot over him or blow by him as easily because of the Filipino-Frenchie's length. His vision will also be hampered because of Pingris' activity and hustle. That, plus it would be fun to watch how Lee reacts towards Pingris-- Mr. Cool versus the Fiery One.

Again, this match-up might not happen in the event that whatever defensive scheme Coach Cone comes up with works early versus Lee. That, or he could send Pingris on Lee early to dictate the series.