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| Tonichi Yturri does not approve. (Photo courtesy of PBA InterAKTV) |
And not only because his team is currently (as always) at the cellar with a sad 1-4 slate with the only silver lining is a looming trade that will reunite him with his college star (Joseph Yeo) who hasn't really been making any waves in the pros the last three years.
Pumaren is in a bind because he only has two players, Mike Cortez (10,3,4) and Nino Canaleta (16,5) who are borderline PBA contender team rotation players. The rest are either too young, too old or just not good enough to win games despite the system.
Because really, who is going to commit to a system, to a team, that is not committed to you in the same manner? Put up big numbers and you know you're going to be traded (and quite possibly buried) elsewhere behind whichever team's established stars. Even if you don't, chances are your name is still going to be thrown in whatever lopsided trade that would make you the butt of any "PBA coach who has a Twitter account's" jokes.
Looking at the roster, the Express did well in bringing in an explosive scorer for an import in Zach Graham (28,10,2). The guy is playing 44 minutes a game with no complaints in that throwback import-assassin kind of way.
But that's where everything ends. Behind Cortez there's the old Wyne Arboleda who can no longer stay in front of his man, Bonbon Custodio who is now an official joke of a player (seriously, did this guy get microfracture surgery or something? Where's the old "Bonfire?") and then Simon Atkins. Atkins ladies and gentlemen. If Froilan Baguion is plying his trade in the ABL, then Atkins should be stuck in PBA D League purgatory for the time being.
So yeah, getting a guy like Yeo as your 2-man would be nice. But if there's any truth to the Cortez for Meralco Bolts' Mac Cardona deal, then the Express better sign a free agent point guard quick (hey, the ABL's on break!).
At the forward to center positions you have Vic Manuel and Mark Isipn who are both under sized, then there are Carlo Sharma and James Sena who are serviceable for six fouls apiece at best. Yeah, good luck in trying to seal the paint with those two guys.
Ogie Menor. 25 minutes per game with only 3 points to show. Stopper? Who's he stopped lately? Even his fouls aren't as entertaining as before. Which PBA superstar's head has he gotten into? No? Exactly.
And Ren Ren Ritualo, our LaSallian hero, is just a non-DLSU anchored team away from retirement.
Sometimes you just can't help but wonder if this team is in it to win or for something else. We feel sorry for Coach Franz. We feel sorry for the players. But for this team to compete, something has got to change.
And we are not talking about the roster.
This franchise was NEVER in it to win it. NEVER. Just think of all the talent they had given away through the years ... Gary David, RDO, YDO, Pingris, Kramer. Intal, Rabeh, Noy, Arwind, JWash. Si Canaleta labas-masok na yan sa poder ng Air21.
ReplyDeleteOnce a player gets his bearings and starts to shine, he's sold off to mostly rot on the bench of greedy overloaded teams. Na-stunt yung growth ng player.
Kaya walang fans itong team na ito eh ... endless revolving door of players. Nag-uumpisa ka pa lang pumalakpak at humanga, the next thing you know, iba na unipormeng suot nung bata. Same goes for teams like Globalport and Barako Bull. They will never get a steady passionate following because no stays long enough for fans to get attached to.
ang kapal kasi ng mukha ng San Miguel Corp. Teams, akalain mo yung dalawang developmental team nila kasama sa PBA? hahaha
ReplyDeleteIn a way, Franz is shooting his own leg here. True, it looks like Air21 is a farm team, but Franz isn't helping by drafting players that played for him before. He drafted Brian freakin Ilad for reasons I don't understand.
ReplyDeleteWhile MVP teams look like a Varsity team with a Team B, SMC teams look like they're just bankrolling their way to championships. I don't know what the factors are on the management side of things, but if one of their reasons would be "Eh kaya nila yun, kami di namin kaya", then what about Rain Or Shine and Alaska? They have held their own against stupid lopsided deals.
I'd like to point out that the current Air21 team is the former Barako franchise. Upon acquiring the Barako franchise, Air21 changed the name to Barako Bull, and gave the name Shopinas to the newly-acquired team. I thought that it was because they wanted to do a set up like MVP teams Meralco and TNT, where one gets the spoils while the other is built up to contend. Pero lumalabas eh nag-expand lang sila ng farm team.
Kung di kaya ng budget nila, sana di na lang sila kumuha ng isa pang team, palakasin na lang nila isang team nila kesa ganito pa. Sobrang daming mahusay na players ang nakabaon sa bench at di nadedevelop dahil sa pag-hoard ng may kayang team, pero wala namang makakalamang kung walang magpapalamang eh. Etong Barako at Air21 tila talagang gusto lang magpalamang, tapos rereklamo sila sobrang lakas ng ibang team. Pwe.
PBA should add more teams. Kaso hinaharang ng SMC eh. Ginagawa nila yun by changing the team's name. Ang daming talent na nasayang through the years. Smh.
ReplyDeleteTruly IRONIC.
ReplyDeleteFranz Pumaren is being screwed in the PBA, by the very same padrinos that he benefited from during his collegiate career.