Mixers' Pride

They'll be back.

Mirroring the current (or soon to be) faith of the Chicago Bulls in the on-going NBA Playoffs, the San Mig Coffee Mixers have nothing to be ashamed of despite being sent home by the Alaska Aces.

The team, already facing a rash of injuries to top stars, fought valiantly and could've easily won a game or two had they managed to protect their lead in the 3rd to 4th quarters. Had they been able to sustain their momentum, it would be the Mixers and not the young Aces barging into the PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals to defend their hard-earned title.

Alas, their hurting and now humbled stars could only do so much.

Looking at the team's over all stat sheet, heavy minutes (28 to 30) were given to PJ Simon, Joe DeVance, Marc Pingris and Mark Barroca. Resident superstar and 2x PBA Most Valuable Player James Yap logs in at least 27 minutes a game, which could've been more had he not been riddled with off-court drama by way of his estranged ex-wife (who should really just stop and move on IMHO) and some nagging back issues.

Was returning PBA Commissioner's Cup Best Import Denzel Bowles the right guy? Well, he did put up 22 points and 14 rebounds in about 40 minutes of burn for the Mixers after replacing the hard-lucked Matt Rogers. But the man was clearly not in game shape (his touch was excellent still, but he lost some foot speed and also some back-to-the-basket moves it seems).

Now that everything's said and done, we argue that the Mixers were loyal to a fault.

They owed it to Bowles because he brought them the title last season. They kept him because they were winning (but not very big). They stood by their clutch gene blessed import because they knew that when push came to shove, that Bowles would stand tall for them as he always did (and in Game 1 of the Aces series, he pretty much did just that).

But he looked slow on the court. His Aces counterpart, the equally quiet Rob Dozier, Jr. made Bowles look old. True enough, Dozier mirrors Bowles in more ways than one. They are both face-up low post scorers who are quick on their feet, they are great rebounders and defender AND as proven last night- can hit the big shot with relative ease (that three point dagger by Dozier was as cool as freshly shaved ice on one of Razon's best selling halo-halos).

Once the injuries started piling up, we were quite surprised that the Mixers-- their management for one which is known to have a quick trigger when it comes to sacking talent in favor of better ones, didn't budge an inch. Either Cone's preaching and class got to the PBA's Vince McMahon or he was just too preoccupied with his other teams.

With Yap hurting and PJ Simon losing teeth and what not, how hard was it for the Mixers to pull the trigger and hire a super import ala Ginebra's Vernon Macklin? They needed a big time scorer to fill in the gaps and it showed in this series. Once Yap was shut down in Game 4, the scoring duties was left to Simon and Joe DeVance.

By now you should know that Joe DeVance, as good and skilled as he is overall, does not possess the clutch gene (as would a Vince Carter, Cavs' era LeBron James or locally-- Jun Limpot and Nelson Asaytono).

So yeah, with all the injuries and what not, the Mixers were still able to hang with this conference's best team. They made men out of the Red Army and even gave them an elbow or three (Yancy de Ocampo and Rafi Reavis' Game 4 hooliganisms should've been unleashed as early as Game 3 just to send a message) to help toughen them out. Can they bounce back? Of course. Is it time to rebuild? Hell no.

But it would help if Coach Tim Cone started playing more guys maybe push his rotation from 7 men to 9. We're not questioning a legit PBA Hall of Famer now, just that he's system is looking a tad bit old as compared to the rotation-heavy sets run by winning teams Talk 'n' Text, Rain or Shine and now, even Alaska.