Kerby Watch

Ibalik ang bangis ni The Kid

What a huge turnaround it has been for Barangay Ginebra San Miguel's Kerby Raymundo, going from being the most consistent, half-court star over-shadowed by an over-rated teammate over at his old team, to being injured, before finally being dealt to his current stop where he continues to look for a role and minutes in a team designed to run.

The Orion, Bataan native was supposed to be dealt before the PBA Commissioner's Cup and reunited with his old coach Ryan Gregorio over at the Meralco Bolts camp but that deal never materialized. Instead, Raymundo languished with Ginebra as he was clearly the odd man out in a team that preached run-and-gun. See, Raymundo is not a traditional big man who hauls down rebounds to ignite the fastbreak. His true value comes when the games are tight, the shooters are misfiring and everything slows down. Back-to-the-basket moves, mid range jumpers and a soft finisher at the rim: that's what Raymundo brings to the table.

So far, Raymundo is putting up 7 points and 4 rebounds a game in about 15 minutes. Good enough for a back-up journeyman, but nowhere near the man touted as "The Kid"'s old stats. His last game, although it came in a loss to Rain or Shine last Sunday, showed just how good this guy can be given the right touches and looks. Despite facing RoS' bruising collection of local forwards (Beau Belga, Jervy Cruz and JR Quinahan), Raymundo's offensive arsenal was on full display. His teammates did a great job in looking for Raymundo in halfcourt situations which were aplenty last night considering RoS' great transition defense.

Should we expect The Kid to return?

Well, we don't really know where Ginebra head coach Alfrancis Chum's system is going to these days. But hopefully, Raymundo continues to lob for the basketball down low given that he is this team's best post player (it's not even close with Billy Mamaril and Rico Maierhofer). What Raymundo lacks in heft and rebounding skills, Ginebra can get from their import Vernon Macklin. It's on the weakside of the low post where Raymundo will prove invaluable and get his looks.

On a side note, we're loving the L.A. Tenorio-Mark Caguioa-Mac Baracael-Raymundo-Macklin five with Chris Ellis as the 6th man. There's balance in that 6-man rotation, and maybe you could just throw in either a Jayjay Helterbrand or Rico Maierhofer to spread it to 8.

Will Ginebra contend for the title or is it too late to turn things around?

Well, this is going to be a long conference similar to the Philippine Cup so Ginebra fans don't have to worry- yet. Honestly, we're not all to convince that Chua is a better Xs and Os coach than his now deputy Siot Tangquincen. In the end, it all came down to the players just not responding and willing to battle for Siot.