Ginebra in transition

For a team that held so much promise and potential going into the season, the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and their millions (and millions- S/O Rock) find themselves struggling after two games with a clear lack of cohesion and chemistry on the floor.

It's easy to put the blame on their import Herbert Hill who looks to be winded everytime the 2nd half comes in, but you have to spread the fault to guards L.A. Tenorio, Jayjay Helterbrand and their barrage of wings from Chris Ellis, Mac Baracael and veteran Rudy Hatfield. Reigning PBA Most Valuable Player Mark Caguioa is putting up the numbers, but after that, there's no one carrying the fight for the hapless Barangay.

With new coach Alfrancis Chua running the show, many expected more involvement in the offense of little-used, many-time PBA Mythical team member big man Kerby Raymundo. Alas, despite having a patsy as an import, the team still refuses to run any plays through Raymundo and is adamant on a "small ball" approach on offense. This works only if you have a dominant anchor in the paint to grab rebounds and make up for all the expected defensive lapses of his guards-- last time we checked, Hill is far from being dominant (being outplayed by Global Port's Japeth Aguilar even) so there you have it.

Another thing that bothers us is the subpar play of Tenorio, who was clearly brought in to literally run the whole show. Takeaway Caguioa, and you have a bunch of able finishers (but not creators) with Tenorio serving as the premier catalyst to make it work. Now that he is going through a shooting slump, teams are just waiting for him to make the pass and just concentrate on their guys. This is a far cry from when Tenorio is at his best, slicing for lay-ups and hitting step back threes which opens up all sorts of options for his teammates to either rotate and wait for the kick-out pass or look to get the offensive rebound.

With Hill reportedly on his way out, the Barangay is banking on their coming import (an NBA D-Leaguer) to right the ship. The locals need to get their acts together and if they are to continue with this "small ball" approach, then the three guys at the forefront are Tenorio, Caguioa and Baracael. Raymundo is, unfortunately, the odd man out and needs to be sent to a team that could use his services (Meralco).