ABL: All eyes on "Our Time" Beermen

Mr. Short Shorts

Having failed in their initial bid to win the ASEAN Basketball League crown in their debut season, the San Miguel Beermen went on an overhaul from coaches to players in an attempt to salvage the crown this time around.

For any other team, reaching the ABL Finals would be considered as an accomplishment but we all know that the Beermen are born and bred a different way. It's "championship or bust" really, having acquired legit PBA starters late in the season to boost their title bid. This year, they sacked head coach Bobby Parks, Sr. and replaced him with UAAP Adamson Falcons coach Leo Austria. They also added PBA Hall of Famers Asi Taulava and Eric Menk-- two guys who desperately want to prove their worth and show that they still have enough in the tank. Gone are Roger Yap, Jonn Ferriols and Jun Cabatu among others and left are reigning MVP Leo Avenido, "James Yap-in-waiting" Chris Banchero and Christian Luanzon (seriously, who is this guy connected with that he always ends up playing for a pro team despite his limited skillset while other guys like Jeff Napa never got a shot?)


If you watched the Beermen's initial conquest of the Indonesia Warriors-- the team that beat them for the ABL title last year, you'd have to be unimpressed with the way they played. For a team that already boasts of top-tier talent, they also have a returning Gabe Freeman and another Brian Williams for imports. That being said, it still wasn't enough for them to drub the Warriors who were without the guy who won them the title, Fil-Am Stanley Pringle.

Taulava is clearly on his last legs and though he can run up and down the floor thanks to his newfound commitment to conditioning, never really had the footwork to play the post. This is the complete opposite for Menk, who appeared to have been gasping for air in the second half but thanks to all those years of training and working the paint, was able to get some nifty moves here in there.

For the rest, it was all Williams and Chris Banchero. Williams did everything that an import should while Banchero pretty much used his size advantage over Warriors counterpart Jerrick Canada and Mario Wuysang. What bothers us about Banchero is that he appears to look like a one-dimensional player. He's great on offense and is a power point guard who plays the half court, but his shooting is spotty at best and his defense-- even worse.

This was exposed in the Finals by Pringle, and this time Canada and Wuysang took turns taking Banchero one-on-one.

Now that the Beermen are standing as the lone Philippine representative in the ABL, let's hope that they are able to make the necessary adjustments (read: get high caliber imports) come mid season and pray that Taulava and Menk are able to rejuvenate their careers so much so that they make a PBA encore.