Better luck next conference

Before the Tius and Tengs, there was Yeo
(Photo courtesy of Sports5)

With a disappointing 3 wins and 10 losses card, the Air21 Express find themselves out of contention in the on-going PBA Philippine Cup. The silver lining here of course, is that they're guaranteed an import of about 6"11 in height (Marcus Douthit PBA tour anyone?) next conference thanks to the league's newly-adopted "handicap" rule.

Also, moving forward, the Express hope to ride another strong performance from the captain of "Team Ageless" Asi Taulava who averaged 13 points and 14 rebounds a game as well as newly-minted "chief gunner" Nino Canaleta who led the team in scoring with 16 points to go with 6 rebounds. And, if Mark Cardona could ever go back to playing with confidence and fire under "homeboy" head coach Franz Pumaren, then you're looking at another 20-point scorer who could either start or come off the bench to provide that spark.

But above all, there's the rising play of Joseph Yeo who has made the difficult transition from hotshot scorer throughout his basketball career to a hybrid or combo guard who can make plays for himself and others.

Truly, what an amazing conference it was for the man hailed as "The Ninja" who averaged 14 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists a night highlighted by that eye-popping Christmas triple-double versus GlobalPort (19 points, 10 rebounds, 14 assists). This is probably the kind of player/ performance the folks over at the now-defunct Coca Cola Tigers franchise expected when they chose Yeo 3rd overall in the 2006 PBA Draft: an explosive scorer who has no qualms about getting his teammates involved when need be (his TV friendly looks makes the whole of Sports5 a bit silly when they actually have someone who can easily trump the whole Teng-mania on both looks and talent).

Hopefully, the Express are able to build on this up-and-coming core and find someone who can play the 4/5 position full-time. Vic Manuel is a guy that's been given a lot of daylight, but he's too busy thinking of ways to score rather than contribute in other facets of the game. If the Express could afford sliding Taulava at the 4 spot and pair him with a dominant center for an import, the Express could easily rival the mighty Barangay Ginebra San Miguel team in terms of having Twin Towers at the helm.

In the end, while we were all going bananas about how the Express should've gone after a point guard in the 2013 PBA Draft and off-season, Coach Franz Pumaren had the answer all along in The Ninja.

Should be an exciting 2nd conference for the Express and the Ube Republic.