Of pride and chemistry

Another season of woes for SMB
(Photo courtesy of Sports5)

With yesterday's PBA Governor's Cup Quarterfinals loss, the San Miguel Beermen's 2013-2014 campaign has finally come to a merciful end.

At the start of the season, penciling the Beermen in as one of the title favorites for any conference was as acceptable as dipping fishball in Mang Jose's secret recipe sarsa. It was that much of a no brainer.

They had the reigning PBA Most Valuable Player Arwind Santos in tow, freed from the redundancy that is Jay Washington. Bigger things were on the horizon for 6"9 Junemar Fajardo. Gilas standouts Chris Lutz and Marcio Lassiter were at the brink of legitimate PBA superstardom. Alex Cabagnot, point guard extraordinaire, would have so many weapons at his disposal for the easy, text book passes (and even the fancy ones that he breaks out from time to time).

And yet they finished the PBA Philippine Cup third.

THIRD.

In some areas, a bronze medal finish is celebrated. For some teams, a third place finish means that there's something good going here, and that it just needs a few adjustments here and there to make 2nd or 1st.

Apparently, finishing third is considered a bust for San Miguel brass.

Guys were sent packing, heads rolled and by the time the third conference rolled in the Beermen made two glaring changes that would (expectedly) throw off any other team: head coach (and consultant) and point guard.

These are the two gems in basketball as far as personnel go. The head coach teaches the system, the lead point guard runs it. Beermen fans should celebrate their team being able to make the Quarterfinals really. As loaded as their team is, system and chemistry goes a long way in winning games and championships.

That being said, with all the changes and trades, is there STILL something wrong with the Beermen? Shouldn't we give them the off season to work out the kinks and maybe see how it goes next conference?

Yes and yes.

There's always room for improvement, and sometimes, you just have to admit when there's a flaw in the overall design and address it right away instead of covering for it. The Beermen have flaws in specific areas that hinder their path to greatness, here we try to touch on some of it.

1. Floor spacers
Here's a simple question: who usually makes the entry pass to the post? You know, the guy who calls for everybody to clear the hell out so he has a better view of that one big man in the low key?

That would be your point guard.

Once the entry pass has been made, the point guard's defender has a decision to make: does he leave his assignment to help on the big brute down low or stay put and watch a 6"9 giant shred his 6"4 teammate for the easy deuce?

The natural reaction of course, is when the double comes, the center would simply kick the ball back out to his point guard and either wait for the return or turn around looking for the rebound off a missed jumper.

The Beermen does not have a point guard who can shoot or space the floor for Fajardo. Their defenders sag off them to help against Fajardo. Sol Mercado, Chris Ross and Paolo Hubalde cannot shoot with any consistency. Chico Lanete is an option, but once he shoots once, he shoots and shoots and shoots or dies trying.

Chris Lutz, Marcio Lassiter and Ronald Tubid are options, but then you take away from their slashing game off the weak side. Either you switch them with Mercado as the chief entry passer (Lutz was highly successful at this, playing big point, in the PBA Philippine Cup wherein-HEY they finished 3rd). Oh, and when did people really bother with Lutz and Lassiter post-Gilas I? Either these two men shape up or be sent elsewhere.

2. Defense
Ross, Tubid, Lutz, Lassiter, Santos and Fajardo are as lock down as you can get in the pros. Playing dedicated team defense-- the ability to switch and regroup on the fly, that's another story.

3. No Jordan, "just" Pippen.
Reigning PBA MVP Arwind Santos had it tough. He's no Kenneth Duremdes, he's no Mark Caguioa. He's not a ball handler or one-on-one creator. He's a tireless, athletic freak of a workhorse who gets his stats through playing solid defense, rebounding the basketball and ok, well, jacking up shots. He gets lambasted for not demanding the ball as an MVP should, and pretty much gets treated the same way when he goes hero ball and throws up a flat-footed brick. If only people could lower their expectations somewhat, and just accept Santos for what he is, then maybe he wouldn't put so much pressure on himself to play outside of his skillset.

4. Fajardo
He is the future. He is the present. But maybe, just maybe, he lost Danny Ildefonso too soon. DI thought him the tricks of the trade when it comes to playing individually, but what he doesn't seem to possess is DI's knack for setting bone crushing screens for his teammates, playing point-center and looking for his shooters at all times. This is where the whole "Fajardo looks winded in the 4th" comes into play. Because he ends up going 1 vs 2 or 3 in the paint so much, he makes the game so much harder for himself and even his teammates. Fortunately, this is something that can be corrected through discipline, hard work and coaching all of which Fajardo possesses or has at his disposal.

All in all, should changes be made? Not yet. The last thing this team needs is another knee-jerk reaction (trade or firing which in San Miguel terms reads as "reshuffling"). Give them the off-season to build and bond, give them a whole season to learn.

Stay the course.