What if Choke-gate never happened?

What if Balkman kept his hands to himself?

Would the Petron Blaze Boosters be enjoying a nice, comfy seat in the semifinals waiting for the Ginebra-Rain or Shine winner instead of Talk 'n' Text? Would everything that has gone wrong for the Boosters the last one and a half conference be forgotten and dismissed as mere "growing pains"-- justified and vindicated by the team's success?

And finally, was the ouster of Renaldo Balkman really that big of a deal considering their opponent, TNT, changed imports just as much as they did?

From a team chemistry standpoint, on the floor at least, yes. Balkman was that versatile four that Arwind Santos forgot to play like and Jay Washington never was. He brought intensity and hustle that allowed his teammates to just feed off it. Rookie center JuneMar Fajardo was left to fend for himself (with much success) as the team's anchor at the five spot guarding imports his size or bigger. Balkman was not an established scorer ala Air21's Mike Dunnigan or Meralco's Eric Dawson, but he sure as hell brought it night in and night out with tremendous energy and passion for the game.

Unfortunately, it was too much passion that cost him (and the Boosters) a possible run at the PBA Commissioner's Cup crown.

Had Balkman been in the line-up, we are betting the house that today's Best Player, Ranidel de Ocampo, would've been a non-factor (they'd be on each other at the four). Balance would be kept with Marcio Lassiter and Chris Lutz alternating as your guards, Ronald Tubid playing either SG or SF, and Arwind Santos and Jay Washington being glued to the bench in crunch time.

Having a go-to-import like Balkman would also reduce Alex Cabagnot's time with the ball (which is big since he tends to dribble the air off it). Henry Sims was a solid import, but Balkman (though limited offensively) was just unstoppable.

In street parlance, Balkman would be that one construction worker that all the subdivision boys would invite to play for their team if only to make a 5-on-5 match-up. Anyone who's played basketball knows what we're talking about here. We're all running the floor, shooting and just having a nice game while this one guy- the construction dude, would be going all HAM rebounding, hustling and going on one-man fastbreaks.

It should also be noted that the Boosters had the chance to bring in a guy who was pretty much a smaller version of Balkman in Gabe Freeman. Freeman plays the same way although he's 6"5 compared to Balkman's 6"8. The issue was that Freeman's height hinders him from guarding opposing centers-- but isn't that why they have Fajardo and veteran Dorian Pena on the roster for? For all the talk about Fajardo's learning curve on offense, he could've used the time to learn playing one-on-one defense against some of the world's elite centers and the Boosters might not have made such a drastic change rotation-wise.

Of course, it would still be hard to argue against TNT given the way they were able to turn things around this conference and upset the 3rd seeded Boosters. The way they played early in the Commish Cup is nowhere near how they are going about their business these days. They're back to playing winning basketball, but Balkman could've at least helped the Boosters put up a sturdier fight.